Strasbourg, France {Part "Un"}

This entire week, I'd been debating whether to spend my Saturday at a spa (not sure where the spa is but there was a one-day USO trip for it) or go to Strasbourg, France.  I asked for feedback on Facebook and everyone was telling me to go to the spa and the spa was a great idea at first--I didn't really feel like going to Strasbourg without Malu and Sina.  But on Thursday night, I asked my friend, Lorie, if she wanted to go and she agreed! 

I am sooooo glad that I didn't miss out on Strasbourg!  I loved it!  It was a shorter drive than our trip to Salzburg--about two hours.  And I enjoyed it more than Salzburg too.  Can you believe it?  Two hours and instantly, you're hearing a completely different language and experiencing a completely different culture.  Amazing!  I'm going to make this Strasbourg post in two parts because I have way too many pictures and I'd like to spread them out.  

For those of you that are interested in reading all about Strasbourg, I've linked this to Wikipedia here.  I've taken tons of pictures.  Yes, and because I did, I missed out on a lot of our tour guide's commentary about when buildings were built, the kind of architecture...that kind of stuff.  Sorry I wasn't more attentive. 

But Strasbourg, France is the capital of the Alsace region in Northeastern France.  It is situated on the Ill River, which flows into the Rhine River that borders France with Germany.  I took a lot of pictures like this, blocks of land linked by bridges and giving way to some of the most breathtaking views.  There were even boats that roamed the city.  I didn't get to ride though--maybe the next time we are there.

This portion of Strasbourg, which surrounds the city's cathedral (which you will see soon) is known as Petite France and is renowned for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland (German areas along the Rhine River) with its black and white timber-framed buildings.  Hidden among these buildings are shops and restaurants.  Lorie and I had lunch somewhere in there.  I'll post more about that tomorrow. 

When you first drive into the city, you are immediately captured by the city's landmark--the Strasbourg Notre Dame, or Roman Catholic cathedral.  It's spire towers over the city and was once the tallest building from the mid-1600s to the late 1800s--the Empire State Building of that day.  Today, it is surrounded by a huge shopping district in the middle of the city.  The cathedral is made of sandstone and the architecture and details that were given to the carvings, moldings, everything...is stunning.  I thought Paris' Notre Dame was the best I'd seen until yesterday and I spent a good portion of time there just staring at it  Take a look...I took a video in the cathedral square.  There was a guy performing, whom I thought was a lady.  He sounded great.

Here are my favorite pictures of the cathedral.

The front of the church.  The time when a really good camera would come in handy.  I couldn't get the entire facade.

This is toward the backside of the cathedral.  The cathedral is known for its astronomical clock.  It rings every quarter-hour and they say that parts of the church move when it does.

 

One of the cathedrals front doors.



Another front door.



My favorite picture.  Looking up to the spire from the front door.

A view of the cathedral from the shopping district.

We actually went inside the cathedral too and I tried to take good pictures of the stained glass windows.  Unfortunately, that was just too plain difficult to do.  It's way too dark inside there, but beautiful.  We also sat in there for good while just to take it all in and to say a prayer or two.

And that was just portion of our day.  For the most part, the weather was okay.  It was rainy and wet in the early morning (we started our tour at about 1000 hours).  Then, the sun peeked its way out around lunch time and then again towards the end of the day, which made touring a lot more comfy, but I still had to keep my jacket on.

I spent another good portion of our tour just people watching.  And seeing what people wear over here is very entertaining.  Some people are just way out there and look completely ridiculous.  Others are stunning (many of the French women, and I find it's the same for Germans) and it is amazing that, with all of the good eats around here that they all remain so thin.  Um, all the walking and biking helps out with that, I'm sure.

And I'll just throw this in....we noticed that the French don't care to pick up after their pets too much.  In all of the grassy areas that we saw....poop everywhere.  Even in the streets.  And I ended up stepping in some.  Worst part of my day.

  Tomorrow, I'll post more...and mostly about my favorite.....FOOD!  So stay tuned!

Oh, one more day until Malu and Sina get home!  Yay!