The Fête du Munster at Rosheim

The French love their cheese. Charles De Gaule once asked how anyone could be expected to lead a country with over 100,000 different types of cheeses. Each region in France has their own varieties and predjudices as to which cheeses are the best.

In Alsace, the big cheese of all cheeses is Munster. Munster cheese is limited in its production to the villages in the Vosges mountains and in the surrounding valleys. If you've ever changed a baby's diaper, then you know the smell of Munster cheese. Luckily, the taste is much milder than the smell.

The village of Rosheim is familiar to us - we pass through it every time we drive up to Mont Sainte Odile. It is another one of the quaint little Alsatian villages with flowers and half-timbered houses and the remnants of the old walls from its days as a fortified city. (As an indication of age, the doorway below is dated 1608.)Rosheim is also a big producer of Munster cheese. This fact, of course, calls for a festival in honor of the smelly stuff.

The Fête du Munster at Rosheim is actually a benefit on behalf of the local fire department. They put up some tents and sell beer and wine and local foods prepared with Munster. They also put up a grandstand and thrill the crowds with traditional Alsatian music and dancing. The picture below gives an indication of the glamour associated with this event. This is the headline band.You have to admit, the band shown above just screams "cheese festival".

The chef was a colorful character with moustaches that you could hang your laundry on. And the man could cook. The air was thick with the smell of potatoes and pot roast and pizzas made with Munster. (Which is something like saying it smelled like a hog farm.) Finally, there was the traditional Alsatian dancing. Pictures below show first the older group, and then the younger group that is carrying on the tradition.

The thing that I love about this last picture is that there is only one boy and all the rest are girls. Youth dance groups are the same around the world. Whether it's Alsatian dance or Irish dance or YMCA ballet, there is always one poor boy amongst all the girls.