A Weekend In France – Strasbourg To Be Exact!

STRASBOURG, France   (metropolitan population of approximately 500,000)

As 1st of November was a statutory holiday in Germany, Tim and I decided to make a long weekend of it and headed out on the 31st of October.  We decided to go to Strasbourg, France.

More than once we heard, “Strasbourg! Why?”  Why not?  Strasbourg's historic city centre, the  Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre.  It is the capital of Alsace and the birthplace of pâté de foie gras.  We had heard that this cosmopolitan city is sometimes overlooked, so we thought we would go and see for ourselves (it is also the closest French city to Erlangen).

It sits right on the border of France and Germany and the city has flavours of both countries.  Over the centuries it has often changed hands between France and Germany, thus most people speak French and German.

We chose a hotel that was about a 15 minute walk, along the river, to downtown.  Excellent choice.

Strasbourg is located on the River Ill

Strasbourg is the home of the European Parliament (which also holds sessions in Brussels). The city itself is the seat of many European institutions, such as, the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory), the European Ombudsman, the Eurocorps and the European Audiovisual Observatory.

Backside of the European Parliament Building

The front of the European Parliament Building.

Inside courtyard of the European Parliament Building.

Inside......

la Petite France

Picturesque "la Petite France" neighbourhood looks like something straight out of a fairy tale book, a riverfront neighborhood with half-timbered buildings accented by colorful flower boxes.

Cathedrale de Notre Dame

Strasbourg Cathedral (Cathedrale de Notre Dame ) is one of Europe's most beautiful example of gothic architecture. It attracts around 4 million visitors each year and is the second most-visited cathedral in France after Notre-Dame de Paris. The stunning pink sandstone facade is quite unique and breathtaking.  The Cathedrale de Notre Dame soars over Strasbourg's old town, built from 1190 - 1439, the highest medieval building in Europe with height of 142 m, it stands on the site of a roman temple.

The Cathedral at night.

This picture gives you an idea of the immense size of this cathedral.
Amazing!  The details are absolutely incredible!

Strasbourg Tramway

The futurist Tram system is amazing.  The first phase was completed in 1994 and has many additions since then. The rail cars are Canadian built by Bombardier!!!

You can go anywhere in the city for EUR 1.60.

The large windows were included on the sides of the tram, with the aim of giving passengers the impression of travelling on a ‘moving pavement’. Another notable feature is that there is no separation between passenger cars; the inside of the tram is one continuous space.

A FRENCH LUNCH

One day we found an amazing little French restaurant - L'Epicerie.   They specialized in Tartines de midi a minuit (sandwiches from noon to midnight).  We were there just before noon and within 5 minutes the place was full.  The sandwiches were open faced.  I had an amazing roti de boeuf with mustard and Tim had turkey salad.  They were to die for!!!

It was very very cute inside!

 

Some of the other sights that we saw......

Préfecture de la Région Alsace et du Bas-Rhin
(Prefecture of Alsace Region and the Lower Rhine) A préfecture de région is the capital city of a region.
This is the city where the- the appointed government representative resides.

Tim and his hats!!

Palais du Rhin (Palace of the Rhine)
former Kaiserpalast (Imperial palace) was built during one of the times
that Strasbourg was owned by the Germans.

Yum!  Yum!

A double decker Carousel!

Tim and his baguette - of course!

We had a great time in Strasbourg.  We would like to come back in the summer as there are 560 km of bike trails in the region and 360 one way streets with special two lanes for bikes. The urban area of Strasbourg has the biggest cycling network in France.

Our next little adventure is to a small village called Bad Wimpfen.  We are going in December as Bad Wimpfen is home to one of the most traditional Christmas Markets in Germany.  We can't wait!