One of the few things I remember from high school history is the story of Alsace-Lorraine. It’s a region in present-day eastern France that has been claimed by both France and Germany and as a result has changed hands several times over the past two centuries.

Traditionally the people of the region speak a dialect of German known as Alsatian, so Germany felt it belonged to them. But France figured borders should be determined by natural features so they staked claim to the land east of the Vosges Mountains to the Rhine River, including Alsace. France ceded the region to Germany in 1871 after their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. And then it went back to France after World War I. Since then it’s remained a part of France except when Nazi Germany occupied it during World War II. It’s firmly established in France now but its German heritage is unmistakable.

So it presents an interesting cultural mix. Something quite unique. Kind of looks like Germany, but also with a taste of France.

Padma and I thought we’d check it out and visited the town of Colmar and then drove along the Alsace Wine Route.

At the Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur of Hunawihr, one of the most iconic churches of Alsace, I saw the history of Alsace-Lorraine in a tombstone for Philippe Jacques Greiner and his family. Alsace and parts of Lorraine were culturally and linguistically mixed for centuries, with many families having German surnames but adopting French given names depending on the political period. Between 1790 and 1866 — the lifetime of the Philippe Jacques — the region was under French control (except during brief Napoleonic upheavals), but still retained deep Germanic roots in surnames and dialect.

On our way home, we visited Strasbourg, the largest city in Alsace and home of the quite remarkable Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, which was was the world’s tallest building from 1647 to 1874, and Petite France, the city’s lively tourist hub.