The first major event is the Icebreaker on Wednesday evening at the brewery LeTigre. Groups gather inside the bar as well as in the large inner courtyard. Passionate discussions take place while the cooks prepare hundreds of Flammenkueches until everyone is full and happy. The evening stretches on, the music rises, we hear a Nirvana track, another one from Blur, and some simply devote themselves to the dance floor.

The night will be long and the wake-up call difficult for some the morning after. But once we’re awake, we climb stairs to the floor dedicated to the lectures given by our talented Mensans friends – an opportunity to deepen our knowledge, to reflect and sometimes even to change our way of thinking about a subject. Intelligence, literature, languages, sports, environment, the variety of covered topics is wide. And here, rooms are available 24 hours a day. This offers the possibility of a meeting or an improvised workshop.

On Friday, we attend an organ concert and a guided tour of Strasbourg cathedral, which is one of the most famous monuments in Europe. The building has the distinction of having been the highest in the world between 1647 and 1874. The place is privatized for us. Sitting in the nave, we vibrate to the regular rhythm of the counterpoint, subjugated by the powerful bass of the instrument. The evening of sound continues when, on the steps of Notre-Dame, we discover, amused, that a local group is also offering us some music.

The next day, there is excitement in the air. The pace of activity slows down as the gala approaches. At around 6:00 p.m., we can see groups of women dressed in gala clothes and wearing sneakers in city buses, because to reach the Josephine Pavilion where the reception will take place, we must first cross the gardens of the Orangerie. Once there, the ladies swap their shoes for an elegant pair of high heels.

The storks, symbol of Alsace, fly over the roof before coming to land in their huge nest, their majestic silhouettes standing out in the falling night. Then, the façade of the building lights up with shimmering colours and the time of speeches has come. Cédric Markgraf, chair of Mensa France and project leader of the EMAG 2022, takes the stage, a little moved, and invites the core team of volunteers to join him, grateful for this year and a half spent working intensely side by side to make it all possible. Then, with a glass of wine in hand, we witness a parade of victuals that we taste with delight. Delicatessen, cheese, pretzels, burgers, Munster doughnuts, fruits, chocolate cakes, tarts and other dishes that honour this area of France.

And it is with a heavy heart that we meet one last time on Sunday morning for brunch. The departure is close. We say a few kind words, we hug, and we tell each other: “See you soon”. See you very soon. Until next year. See you in Rotterdam, for a new meeting full of beautiful promises and adventures.