When I was in Alsace this past February, I happened to be there during a school break similar to Spring Break in the U.S. The timing of it is intended, as I understand, to provide a winter break and travel time for families in areas (like Alsace) that are very busy with tourism at the end of the calendar year. I was unaware of how far reaching this would turn out to be, but most of Alsace's service industry is, it would appear, family run. I had intended to stay in Kaysersberg, so I called ahead to the hotel I'd had in mind (right as I was turning into the drive at Domaine Weinbach) and discovered that it was closed. Since I was right on time for my appointment at Weinbach, I didn't have time to call other hotels, so I postponed my search.

While tasting at Weinbach, I asked Laurence Faller if she had any ideas, and after naming a few, she suggested that we consult with her mother when we finished. After Laurence left to run an errand, Madame Colette Faller spent over half an hour helping me find a place--it turns out that most of the hotels and restaurants I was interested in visiting were closed. Madame Faller eventually asked if I minded driving a little further, which I did not, so she called the Hôtel du Faudé in Lapoutroie, which is not much more of a drive--only ten minutes from Kaysersberg.

Lapoutroie is situated partway up the slopes of the Vosges Mountains, overlooking the Kaysersberg Valley. You can't miss the Hôtel du Faudé as you enter the village, and it is a lovely place. Based on my conversation with Chantal Baldinger, who, along with her husband Thierry, owns the Hôtel du Faudé, I inferred that the hotel was actually open because it is quite close to a popular ski area, and I met a family who had come for that exact purpose. Showing that the people of the area and its tourists have their priorities in the right place, this small, family-run hotel has three restaurants! One of these restaurants, Le Faudé Gourmet, should have at least one Michelin star, but I gather the Michelin folks haven't been up here, because there's no other plausible excuse for this omission. The two remaining restaurants are more regionally specific: one focuses on Alsatian cuisine (La Stewala), and the other (Le Grenier Welche) is devoted to ancestral dishes distinct from the Alsatian tradition (more on this later). Of course, in both of these two dining rooms, one can order from either menu.

Lapoutroie itself is an extraordinary place, in that it is one of five villages where you can hear an ancient patois known as Welche spoken around you. It is one of the Langues d'œil (which some moron on Wikipedia incorrectly spells as Langues d'oïl, and refuses to change it, naturally...but where was I?), with the Langue d'œil being the antecedent of modern French. This is worth caring about from a worldwide standpoint only because it is a dialect in the midst of resurrection--it almost died out in the middle of the 20th Century: the Germans wouldn't allow it, and after WWII, the French government made French the required language. When they relaxed this law in the 1960s it took decades for a new generation to force their way into knowledge of it, so the renaissance continues, and it is from this well of tradition that the restaurant at Faudé draws inspiration.

The hotel itself is quite lovely--the room was excellent, and if you don't like the typical French hotel bathroom, then you'll love this place, as the bathroom had a shower stall. It was very quiet at night (this being a snowy February 10), and it was a peaceful place to walk. There are other attractions, including a the Miclo distillery and the Musée des Eaux de Vie. My short experience with Lapoutroie was excellent, and I regret that I could not spare the time to explore it further, because if it is half as vibrant as the many residents I met, then it is a special place indeed.

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