Took the TGV southeast to the "capital of Europe," where historical architecture meets the modernity of important EU buildings. We arrived quite early and the town was empty. We wound along streets with beautiful half-timbered houses overflowing with red flowers from the window boxes. The timber framing is made of a dark wood and contrasts the typically white plaster infill.
Although Strasbourg is currently French, it has changed hands many times and most of the people there speak both French and German. It was actually refreshing to hear the harsh German words after the smoothness and fluidity of French these past weeks.
We started the day with delicious pastries- one more French (pain au chocolat, can't go wrong) and the other more German (a wreath-shaped apple and cinnamon delight). We ate them by the river that encircles the city, which is basically one big island. Then, took a little walk through the multiple plazas where statues commemorate people like Gutenberg, who developed the first printing press when in Strasbourg.
The next stop was the huge old Strasbourg Cathedral!. Martin Luther's 95 Theses were put on display here at the start of the Reform Movement. It is made of unusual pink and brown stone. Construction began in 1015 and the Gothic architecture is apparent all the way up its tall, lone spire. The inside is dimmer and darker than some of the other light-flooded cathedrals I have seen in France, but has unusual stained glass that depicts biblical scenes on one side of the nave and important political people on the other. The rose window is beautiful, as is the unusual animated astronomical clock.
Next came a narrated boat tour (yes, I am secretly an 80 year-old woman on the inside) where we discovered the history of the town, which had some of the first Protestant churches in Europe. Got to ride through the canals with its system of locks and see how important the waterway was for shipping goods in between European countries.
Lunch was had at a cozy little restaurant with wooden carved chairs, checked curtains, and blue glazed pitchers. The meal was heavy, but delicious and very Alsatian...sausage, sauerkraut, potatoes, bread, and onion tarts. I'm still full.
The afternoon led us to the lovely Petit France with even more gorgeous half-timbered homes and the long Pont Couvert (covered bridge). We also saw the University of Strasbourg, the largest university in France with alums like van Goethe and Louis Pasteur!
Finally, we made the long trek to the northeast corner of the city where the glass and metal structures home to important EU head offices are found. The Council of Europe building is a huge cylindrical structure with unusual long walls of hanging greenery inside, an amphitheater, and all the flags of the EU countries waving in the front. The European Court of Human Rights buildings looks like two angled cylinders and has seen many big cases come through its doors... Finally, the European Parliament building, where the administrative duties of the Council are carried out.
After our very early morning and late departure from Strasbourg, we were tired out and headed back on the TGV to complete my last weekend in Paris!
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