Pretzels, Confetti, Wine, and a Charcoal Grill

Some blue sky peaks out as ribbons fall from Remich's colorful rooftops.

Friends of ours who live in the Moselle region of Luxembourg kindly invited us to their home yesterday to watch the annual Remich Cavalcade and dinner.  Although a cavalcade is in essence a parade, it is so much more than your run of the mill parade with fire trucks and high school marching bands.

The first thing to know about the Cavalcade is that it's a celebration for Pretzel Sunday.  Pretzel Sunday is held of the fourth Sunday of Lent in Luxembourg.  Tradition says that a boy should buy a pretzel for the girl he likes; the bigger the pretzel (and they can get pretty HUGE) the more he likes her.  The girl reciprocates her feelings by giving him a chocolate Easter Egg.  On the leap years, the role is reversed and the girl buys the pretzel.

www.allnationschurch.lu

The cavalcade is also linked with Carnival, so it's a party.  A big party.  Now, what you need to know about the Moselle is that it is Luxembourg's wine country.  Needless to say, it flows rather freely through the parade.

http://www.wineandvinesearch.com/luxembourg/moselle.png 

This parade isn't as large as some of the other ones that take place in other parts of Luxembourg towards the beginning of Carnival, but it has the advantage of being in a warmer time of year.  The wine is another incentive to attend.  I mentioned the wine, right?

Well, let me tell you, the folks in the little city of Remich certainly know how to party.

Most of the floats had a theme, the one above was disco, I believe.  There were astronauts, Texan cowboys (who pulled off a mean line dance), flying carpets, Disney princesses, and even a mock float of the Luxembourg based RadioshackNissanTrek cycling team, with the tongue-in-cheek name RadioEchec Aschleck Startrek.  For more pictures, you can find the slide show here.

Besides the wine, the candy, the dancing, and the music there were buckets and buckets of colorful confetti (some of which we inadvertently brought home with us).

After we survived the parade, we were treated to an excellent meal prepared on our friends' charcoal grill. No burgers or hot dogs here, dear reader, our friends stepped it up with not one, but two pork tenderloins.  Mmm mm!  Before we moved here, we were told that they don't "grill" in Luxembourg.  You can't get charcoal or fuel, so don't bother bringing your grill.  Lies.  Yes, they have grills and, yes, they know how to use them.  These two folks in particular could give some lessons (and did last night) to many self-proclaimed red white and blue grill masters.  It was just another example of how misinformation has been pleasantly (and deliciously) corrected.  We will be buying a grill, by the way.


I think we started off the week rather nicely. Of course, it's back to the grind today.  We're having a dinner guest tonight so I better get moving!