Small Town Saturday Night

I grew up in small-town-Illinois, an uncomplicated rural stage immersed
in a local economy of corn, pigs and raising decent kids.
  My glamorous Parisian mother cultivated us betwixt two worlds,
one that was as American as apple pie and another that leaned left
to straddle the Eiffel Tower -- all deliciously quirky and enchanting.
  It was a great life.

  Since then, I've flourished in a couple of good sized cities, loved them
both and reserved an extra-special place in my heart for a third --  my
adopted city of Paris -- home away from home.

​But alongside those cherished trips to Paris, I've always loved going to
small town France -- the little burgs off the beaten path, the ones that
bring back memories of the stage I grew on so many years ago.
 
​Usually there's a pizza place, a kabob joint
and of course a good boulangerie.
  You'll always find somewhere great to enjoy an afternoon aperitif
and, if you're lucky, a spirited conversation with a local.
  Sometimes, if the village is too small to support its own artistic baker,
a truck stops by with fresh bread every morning to fulfill the
unwritten French covenant of a daily fresh baguette.
  Everyone knows everyone -- and maybe that's what feels
​especially welcoming to an abstract traveler who can barely
​ pronounce the name of the village.
​
"Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You want to be where you can see
The troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name"
"Cheers" theme lyrics by Gary Portnoy & Judy Hart

Alsace -- located in the Grand-Est region -- is a great place
to discover the tiny towns of France.
  It seems each village comes equipped with grapevines, storks, and a magical
 little restaurant that features superb delicacies served with a local white.
  Think hot paté and bubbling flammekuche straight out of the wood-fired oven, jumbo plates of choucroute, and yeasty pastries like kugelhopf. 

Just when you're convinced you've seen the cutest village ever, you
round the corner only to discover another one that tops the last.
It's a place to slow down and literally breathe in and breathe out the magic.
  Just like a snake, you'll almost feel the shedding of your old skin,
emerging with a new vibrancy and a true-to-life French "joie de vivre".

​It's strange, but this adorable slice of timbered houses and
geranium-filled window boxes has survived centuries of bloody war
and enough topsy-turvy history to wake the dead.
With such a disorderly past, you'd think it might feel sad and lonely.
But truly, it's just the opposite. 
Alsace feels hearty and hale, a bucolic vision for anyone who enjoys
​pretty scenery, regional cooking and enough quiet time to just sit 
and enjoy a traditional small town atmosphere.  ​

 I'm unattractively anal about creating itineraries and following them as if
they're the ten commandments so it's really lovely to just wander in and out of
 these little towns with little more on my mind than looking at life from a new angle.

  Without a strict plan, it's easy to recall the "good ole' days"
when a simple life meant a happy life.
  Walking to school with friends.
​Dad's sure-fire method to tickle the loose teeth right out of your mouth. 
Watching "The Wizard of Oz" every single year.
  Playing cards and Chinese Checkers (my brother always cheated).
  Giggling over my brother's bad jokes (he still tells the same ones).
  We were nerds in paradise.

Could this be one of the reasons we love to travel?
I've always assumed I was bitten by the travel bug because it
implied world class museums, unforgettable food & wine,
 staggering architecture and imposing landscapes.
  That may be true, but it's only one side of the story.

These special excursions to small, quiet places are just as fulfilling
as the coolest adventure itinerary or package you can find. 
Sleepy old villages offer abundant rewards
including recollections of our past life stories.

"And don't throw the past away
You might need it some other rainy day
Dreams can come true again"
​Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager & Peter Allen "Everything Old is New Again"

Those of us who grew up in small towns have special memories of days gone by.  Riding our bikes anywhere we pleased.
  Trick-or-treating -- no parents allowed -- until our bags were filled to the brim.  Homecoming dance.  Football games and band practice. 
The drive-in theater and that first kiss.
The family doctor who made house calls and the school
 cafeteria ladies with their hairnets and baggy stockings.
Skating in the winter and swimming in the summer.
  Sitting on the front porch laughing at my brother's bad knock-knock jokes.
Riding the Tilt-a-Wheel during "Hog Days" and eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
every day after school.... real life Norman Rockwell stuff -- seemingly without end.

When you visit a place like Alsace, you can almost see and hear the past.
Sprouting generations of small town family friendly memories, 
no doubt, their children have their own stories to tell.
  For sure their own tall tales don't exactly mirror ours -- but I'd take a bet
they enjoyed some variation on the same fun & dumb antics
as us -- albeit with a slightly French/German twist.
​Odds are a Saturday night in one small town is interchangeable with a Saturday
​ night in another whether it's a few miles away or across a great ocean.

We all have our own narrative on life's little pleasures, including
 Saturday night fever and other milestones that accumulate over a lifetime....
​Our hometown communities are the ties that bind.
​
When you visit this glorious green garden of France, it seems so much
 more exotic than what we see every day back home.
It's hard not to compare their gorgeous Alsace homestead straight out of
 a Hansel & Gretel fairytale vs. our humdrum all-American Midwestern burg.

 But growing up in Eguisheim or Obernai, Mittelbergheim or Dambach-la-Ville,
how different can it be from those of us who bloomed in small towns in the Midwest?
  Or for that matter, any One Horse Town?
History, education and architecture aside, kids are kids
and those old familiar streets bring back a smile and a big dose of affection.

​"No, I cannot forget where it is that I came from,
I cannot forget the people who love me."
​John Mellencamp, singer/songwriter of "Small Town"

Take a "listen" to one of my all time favorite country songs;
see if these words have special meaning for you, as well.
​
  From Hal Ketchum's "Small Town Saturday Night":

"There's an Elvis movie on the marquee sign,
We've all seen at least three times
Everybody's broke, Bobby's got a buck
Put a dollar's worth of gas in his pickup truck
We're going' ninety miles an hour down a dead end road
What's the hurry, son, where you gonna go?
We're gonna howl at the moon, shoot out the light
It's a small town Saturday night
It's a small town Saturday night
Lucy's got her lipstick on a little too bright
Bobby's gettin' drunk and lookin' for a fight
Liquor on his breath, trouble on his mind
And Lucy's just a kid along for the ride
Got a six-pack of beer and a bottle of wine
Gotta be bad just to have a good time
They're gonna howl at the moon, shoot out the light
It's a small town Saturday night
It's a small town Saturday night
Bobby told Lucy: "The world ain't round
Drops off sharp at the edge of town
Lucy, you know the world must be flat
'Cause when people leave town, they never come back"
They go ninety miles an hour to the city limits sign
Put the pedal to the metal 'fore they change their mind
They howl at the moon, shoot out the light
It's a small town Saturday night
Yeah, howl at the moon, shoot out the light
Yeah, it's a small town Saturday night
It's a small town Saturday night
It's a small town Saturday night"
​Lyrics by Hank DeVito & Patrick Alger


I hope you enjoyed our little trip to Alsace and look forward -- like me -- to
traveling here, there, and everywhere possible in small town France.
  It's always a pleasure to look back as we move forward and
it's good to know our travels take us as close to heaven as we dare.
​
​Those were the days, my friend....