Strasbourg, France

First I would like to say that I love taking the train. Well at least I love it in Europe where the train stations are beautiful and the trains are wonderful and clean. Such a pleasant experience to get on and not have someone telling you that since you have a suitcase and a personal item you can’t have a purse too. Nope! They don’t care. You get on and read a book and then they get you where you want to go - almost always on time - and then you get off. And did I mention how beautiful the train stations are? Worth saying it twice.

My train to Strasbourg was from Gare de l’Est so I took two metro lines and it got me right there. Had no problem finding the right train and settled into my reserved seat. The sooner you book your train ticket the less you pay. Tickets available either 3 or 4 months in advance - I can’t remember exactly but I booked right when they were available and got a very low fare. Slightly less than a two hour ride through pretty farmland and we were there.

Strasbourg is in the Alsace province in France, but is so close to Germany if you didn’t know it you might think that’s where you were. In fact the area has gone back and forth between the two countries, but since the end of WWI has been part of France. Asterisk that during WWII the Nazi’s did take it over but it was not officially back to being part of Germany. Strasbourg is more than just an adorable city. It plays a fairly large role in the EU and shares administrative responsibilities with Brussels and Luxembourg. The old core of the city is very quant though, and I found myself wandering the streets and taking pictures of just about everything. My room wasn’t ready yet so I did go get a bite to eat amid my wandering. I’m very into Caesar salads with chicken because with the heat eating something hot just doesn’t appeal to me.

I will confess when I got back to the hotel and in my room I took a little nap. Just maybe 30 minutes but truth be told I’ve been traveling for the good part of a month and this packing up, catching trains, walking miles has been fantastic but also a little tiring. Plus I have a couple of days in this area so I’ll have plenty of time to see the major sites. After my catnap I grabbed Rick Steves walking tour and headed over to an area called Petite France. It’s sits right along the river so dates back to the 16th century when trade came by river and also powered local industry. Lots of cute restaurants and shops in the area and I must have taken 50 pictures of various buildings. Many are what are called Half-Timbered and were a more inexpensive way to build than stone.

A few more pics from my wandering. These Alpine dolls are so cute and they are everywhere. They definitely seem more German.

The center of the town is dominated by this massive Cathedral dating back to 1176. More to come on that. I didn’t tour it today but will definitely get inside and learn more about it. Impossible to get the entire church in a picture!

I’m obsessed with the half-timbered houses! More to come tomorrow 🤗