Welcome to Alsace!

Strasbourg, France
September 4-5

Leaving Grindelwald on Sunday, we took the Jungfrau express back down the mountain to Interlaken, Switzerland. We grabbed a bite to eat and then boarded a train to Basel, Switzerland for our connection to Strasbourg. Basel is right on the border of France, Germany and Switzerland so we have made lots of connections through there. It is so close to France that within minutes of leaving the train station we had arrived at the first stop and realized we were already in France, just by looking at the signs. We traveled North through the Alsace wine region for about an hour to get to our destination.

By the time we arrived in Strasbourg, it was late afternoon and starting to rain. We had a funny experience upon arrival when we walked across the street from the train station and tried to check into the wrong Ibis hotel! I had completely forgotten that there were a few Ibis hotels in Strasbourg so when we hopped off the train and saw one right across the street, I assumed it was ours. The man at reception was very nice. When I showed him my reservation confirmation he got out a city map and showed me that we were at the Ibis Les Halles, not the Ibis Gare. Our hotel was about a 5 minute walk, but in a much nicer area.

The hotel was another two star, with few amenities but very clean. Since this was just a one night stop on our way to Paris, we had both packed a small bag that we put at the top of our packs. It was much simpler than dragging everything out and packing it all up again. We took quick showers and put on some relatively clean clothes and headed out to see what we could see. It was raining pretty hard by now, but we didn't really care. I had a rain hat and we both had water repellent jackets and hiking shoes so we figured we figured would stay somewhat dry.

Yup, it was raining a bit when we arrived in La Petite France!

The main area to see in Strasbourg is La Petite France and I can see why! Even in the pouring rain it was lovely. It looks like you've stepped into a movie set from the 1600's. There were narrow cobblestone streets and medieval buildings and little pedestrian bridges crossing over the river that ran through it all. We wandered for a little while looking for a place to eat, but most places were empty because it was only around 6:30 and the French eat much later than that. We finally came upon a bustling place called the La Corde a Ligne (Translation: The clothesline). We knew it must be a touristy place to be full this early, but the menu looked perfect for what we wanted and the prices were right. Shaun got a duck leg confit and I picked an item they called Veal and Chicken fricassee, which was basically a veal and chicken pot pie in a puff pastry bowl. Now I must say, Shaun loves all things duck, but he had some serious food envy over my dinner. Lucky for him I could only eat about half of it before bringing him in for clean up.

We were warm and full and dry at this point, but not for long. We wandered back out into the streets, determined to make the most of our short stay. That lasted about 15 minutes. It was really pouring now and our jackets and my rain hat had basically stopped repelling water. We had booked an afternoon train for the next day in case we wanted more time in Strasbourg, so we headed back to the hotel, soaked to the skin.

My drenched husband...

And the same for me...We were still having fun though. It beats working!!

We woke up today to a light drizzle, but it was clear that the worst of the rain was over. We threw on some clothes and headed out to check out the city again. We had only two destinations in mind for the morning, the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Civil Hospital. (Don't worry, it's not what it seems).

But as always, we needed food first so we stopped at a cafe and ordered a couple of pastries and two Cafe Cremes- coffees with cream and sugar. Once again, we were thrilled to be out of Switzerland when the bill came to 5 Euro total. The weather had turned spectacularly nice while we ate breakfast. The sun was out, there was a light breeze off the river and it just felt like the kind of crisp fall day you get in New England this time of year. It was perfect for sightseeing. First we headed back to the hotel to shower and check out. We put our backpacks in luggage storage and headed out.

Notre Dame was only about a ten minute walk, and when we got there, there were maybe only five or ten people in the whole place. We walked by later and there were hundreds! That's the great thing about getting out and about early. The beauty and peacefulness of a cathedral is much easier to experience when you aren't fighting for two feet of space with hundreds of fanny-pack toting, loud-talking, tour-group-following tourists. As it was, we had the place practically to ourselves. The cathedral is undergoing a major renovation and we could see why. It is filled with the most gorgeous, intricate Stained Glass windows that are some of the oldest still in existence in Christianity, dating back to the 13th century. From the inside, you could clearly see the difference between the ones they had already restored and the blackened ones they had not. From the outside the difference was even more startling.

Can you see the difference between the restored windows in the middle and the windows on the top?

One of the restored windows from inside.

Now it was time to go the Hospital. Believe it or not, the Strasbourg Civil Hospital has on its ground a wine cellar that dates back to 1395. It even has a barrel from 1472 that has only been tapped three times in 500 plus years. Seriously. The Hospital grounds are huge and it is truly a functioning hospital and yet for over 600 years they have kept this wine cellar in tact. I freaking love these people. We were so excited to go take a look. We got to the hospital and we were clearly at an entrance for hospital employees but the female guard took one look at us and walked over and said "Le cave de Vin?" (Wine cellar?) to which we laughed and said yes. She explained that it was around the corner and looked like the old door next to her and sent us on our way. I wonder how many times a day she has to do that.

Look, the entrance to the wine cellar! Doesn't that look inviting!??

Here is where the story takes a tragic turn. We rounded the corner and walked a little way and spotted the sign that said "Caves Historiques" and at the bottom a very welcoming "Entree". We turned the corner to walk down the stairs and this is what we saw:

If you can read French, you know this is a very sad sign

Yes, today, our only day in Strasbourg, was the day they were taking inventory. So sad.

So we put on our bravest smiles and continued our little walk around Strasbourg. We headed back to La Petite France, thinking it might be nicer in the Sun than in a downpour, which it was. We roamed around until lunchtime, and managed to see some very cool things like a team of divers braving the rapids to remove a dead bird from the river and a boat making its way through the system of locks.

Hanging out on the way back to La Petite France

Shaun has a different idea of hanging out!

Shaun, watching the boat rise up as the locks let in the water.

Can you see the divers? They were from the special emergency dive team. It was amazing how they worked their way around this raging river.

By now it was getting late so we grabbed a bite to eat at a Sushi place and headed back to get our bags at the hotel. It was just a 5 minute walk to the train station where we boarded the TGV for the two hour and fifteen minute non-stop trip to Paris.

Hanging out at the Strasbourg train station, waiting for the train to Paris

So here we are, on a high speed train to Paris for what will be the longest stay of our journey. When we unpack our bags this afternoon, it will be in an apartment in the Latin Quarter where we will live for the next 30 days. After the plane tickets, this was the second thing we booked for this trip. Both Shaun and I love this city and I have always dreamed of spending an extended time here. I am not fluent in French, but I am definitely conversational, which makes it easier. We've both done most of the normal tourist things so we won't be doing those, except when we have visitors. We want to do a lot of shopping at the markets and cooking at "home" and seeing what it really feels like to live in this city. So for now I will say Au Revoir because I am too excited to write anymore! My next post will be from our home in Paris.