A zany day in Alsace

Today, I’m told (though I’m not sure if this isn’t an April Fool’s Day joke) is the culmination of the festival Après l’Hiver, l’Envers in Alsace which roughly translates as ‘after winter, the reverse’. Apparently the people of Alsace are turning their day upside down, starting with hot chocolate or cocoa in the morning, eating dinner backwards and ending the day with breakfast.

In Obernai many restaurants today will be offering a meal that begins with coffee and cognac, followed by Kougelhopf (a kirsch-flavoured brioche with almonds and raisins), poulet saut, sauce au foie gras (sauted chicken with a foie gras cream and white wine sauce), assorted cold meats and crudits and a Kir Royal (cassis topped up with the local sparkling wine) An upside-down children’s menu is also available which, I suspect, they’ll probably enjoy more than the adults . . .

The fish floating in the sky of the picture above, btw, is a reference to the poisson d'avril - France's term for April fool.

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