My friend Peter’s son is now visiting Strasbourg, which reminded me of my own visits there in the sixties when i was stationed in the American army in Germany but was far more accomplished in French than German.
My German friends had warned me before my first visit that the Strasbourgers were notorious for their penchant for speaking German to French visitors and French to the Germans. What an amusing story, i thought.
And then there i was on my first trip to Strasbourg speaking French to a shop girl when she switched to German in mid-transaction. I deduced that her first language was French when she did not switch back to it upon hearing my German responses.
Here’s our new green Public Utilities Commission building at Polk and Golden Gate. The wind turbines are on the other side.