We like the sound of Alsacez-vous, the slogan for the 2012 publicity campaign to promote tourism in Alsace, and take it to mean "experience Alsace." Above, nesting on a rooftop in Eguisheim is a white stork, not only the symbol of a newly arrived baby, but also the symbol of Alsace. Although the legend that storks deliver babies wrapped in a sling to families is generally claimed to have northern European origins, it is an Alsatian custom for children who want a baby brother or sister to place a piece of sugar on a window ledge to attract a stork carrying the hoped for bundle of joy.
The medieval village of Eguisheim, built with its streets in concentric circles, is on the list of the most beautiful villages in France. It is also there where one of the first parks to reintroduce and to protect storks, whose population had been seriously declining, was created in 1983.
Vocabulary
une cigogne: a stork
un nid: a nest
un toit: a rooftop
©2012 P.B. Lecron
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