Louis, Bruce's Alsacian business friend for 20 years

Bruce has a lovely friend, Louis, who has been a business buddy for 20 years!  Louis was a very successful dealer in Alsace, France who sold many letter opening machines.  Always true, and a good partner in business, Bruce came to like Louis, and admire his sense of style.

We attended Louis' 75th birthday party, 3 years ago while we were here in France.  I am still embarrassed to say that we considered not attending, because we were in the south of France, and Louis lives in Alsace, in a little town called Boofzheim.  We had a ball!  It was a 7 hour lunch, with people from all over Europe.  We also met his lovely wife, Lillian, his lovely daughter and son-in-law, Clarise and Gilbert, and two friends of his from Denmark, Elsabeth and Martin.

Louis helped us to locate our nice apartment where we are staying in Schaffersheim.  And, we have been fortunate enough to meet up with Louis again!  Louis invited us to his home for dinner last week.  His home is about 15 to 20 minutes from our town.

It was lovely!  Their home is a newer home, and has all the amenities!  There is a lovely home in a garden with a massive Blue weeping cedar tree, a beautiful pool, and a boules court.  Elsabeth and Martin were there, as well, and Louis and Lillian's daughter, son-in-law, and Louis and Lillian's 16 year old grandson, came a bit later.  When we arrived, we had a coffee, and began a boules tournament.  (Like Bocci ball.)  Bruce and Martin played against Louis, Elsabeth and me.  What fun!  The game is played with metal balls, about the size of your hand.  Everyone gets to see how close they can get their ball to a smaller ball, about the size of a Jax ball.  The game turns on a dime, and everyone can play!  It is called Patanque in France, and is basically played by almost everyone in France, from what we can determine!  Bruce and Martin won the tournament!

After our boules tournament, we had sparkling Alsatian wine with Creme de Cassis, and hors devours, outside next to the pool.  From there, we moved over, under cover of a separate building where there was a huge fire place.  And, amazingly, their 16 years old grandson, Benjamin,  made us dinner in the outdoor, wood-fired oven!  

Benjamin made us about 8 to 10 Wood-fired, Alsacian Tarts (similar to Pizza, but NOT pizza!).  They are made with a very thin (almost crepe thin) crust, on which is spread a thin, very creamy white cheese, with thinly sliced onions, and lardon (little chunks of what we call Canadian Bacon.)  They were delicious, and a real treat!!!  Ahh...and I mustn't forget the beautiful Alsacian wine!  Tres bon!  For dessert, we had another tart....a tart with sliced apples, a hint of cinnamon, baked in the outdoor wood-fired oven, and a flambé of rum!  Just fantastic!  

Clarise had prepared everything, in advance, for Benjamin.  Everyone helped!

Louis, Lillian, Clarise and Benjamin were fabulous hosts!  We enjoyed every minute of their hospitality, friendship and camaraderie!  We look forward to spending more time with them, and our friends Elsabeth and Martin, as well!  PS...the farm tools on the wall, are Louis' grandfather's tools!