Saturday 14th July Saverne

Bastille day. I had been woken in the night by that you know what feeling. I was fully laden and the bomb doors needed opening sharpish. Bloody rhum baa baas!

By morning, the sortie was over thank god but it was a filthy day, Lashing with rain, we had a lazy morning doing not much.

At 11 there was a ceremony in the chateau grounds. The sounds of the Marseillaise echoed across and I snapped a couple of pictures. It was cold and still showery but at least it was dry for the ceremony.

The heavily publicised pompiers and sapeurs open day at the fire station was our planned excursion. It was all of 250yds up the road. We drifted through the day and strolled up there at 5ish. It was packed and a serious event. The families were having a fantastic time. Kids climbing ladders crawling over all types of fire tenders. Ambulance crews and paramedics gave resuscitation demonstrations, the pompiers had already given various demos but we watched the 6pm car accident, car roof removal to retrieve a badly injured occupant. All good stuff.

Meanwhile the megaboys orchestra was setting up inside the cavernous station which also housed the bar. Outside you could choose from hot dogs, pizzas and Alsace speciality, tarte flambé a very thin pizza base topped with onions , ham and cheese and a white base. There were table and chairs for probably 600 people inside and out.

It was 7pm and a quiet period between afternoon and evening entertainment so we strolled back to the quay bar and had a couple of drinks there. Collette made a start on Ricard. Dangerous! I attempted to warn her of trouble ahead!

It soon started to rain hard. Such a shame. At 8 pm it had stopped so we returned to the fire station. The megaboys were just starting. I ordered a beer and a bottle of Pinot noir, frites a pizza and a double merguez baguette with onions and mustard mayo. We found a gap on the bench tables and set about it all.

We chatted with our neighbours. Family of five, the little girl Gwendoline was a sweetie. The megaboys opened up with a German number and the floor was immediately full with twirling couples. They loved it. 4 more German songs which i must say all sounded the same to me and I was starting to wonder if we were in France at all. The megaboys had a break and then came back with 5 French songs. A break then some modern stuff. They were actually very good.

It was nice to be in the middle of this very local and very alsace celebration, I chatted with mum next door about the German influence. She said that the children had a choice at school of German or English but nearly all did German as Alsace is practically a dual language region and in this mans opinion, a beautiful and interesting region as a result. I am warming more and more to the German people as this trip evolves and many Pre conceived ideas of arrogance, insular and unfriendly have been well and truly put to bed.

It was all very jolly and it was noticeable how the dance floor was packed all night. Sapeur pompiers cruised the isles operating as waiters for more drinks and we noted how there was a large contingent of junior sapeurs. All dressed in genuine and same uniforms. I am unaware if our brigade runs a similar scheme but certainly seemed like a great idea. The juniors ranged in age from about 13 to 17, all looked very proud of their uniforms and all worked tirelessly all day.

We eventually got back to Doucette both a lot tipsy. I had not expected much from the sapeur pompiers open day but it had turned out to be a great fun day and night.