27/5/11 - 29/5/11 Strasbourg, France

First off – in response to a request from a ‘long time reader, first time commenter’ we will include our mileage in future updates. I warn you though, it’s not much – I used to commute further than the distance we are driving on average.

Anyway – this update is especially important, because my (Morgan’s) mum and dad are visiting Strasbourg and the Alsace wine route in a couple of months. This is an important forward reconnaissance for them, and I will be writing detailed instructions so they can re-create our visit down to the smallest detail.

The region of Alsace is on the border of Germany and France, and between 1871 and 1945 it has swapped between them 5 times. Consequently the Alsatians (tee hee) speak their own language that is a mix of French and German. This is good, because I also mix the two languages up indiscriminately when I try and speak French.

So Strasbourg has a very Germanic flavor for a French city, they serve German beer and food, and all the place names and road names are German – but it all has a French twist. It is a good mix. 

Strasbourg is similar to Bruges, because the old city is on an island that is completely surrounded by the river, although it is much bigger. It is getting hard to describe these places without repeating past posts – but Strasbourg is very pretty, and the architecture is amazing.

We have established a good routine now, our first visit is always to the information centre where we pick up a map, and most of them have a walking tour. Our first day is usually a stroll taking in all the tourist sites (although our first stop in Strasbourg was a farmers market) and subsequent days are spent seeing the out of the way stuff, or randomly wandering (which is good fun).

Look - I'm so happy in my new stripy grey T-shirt

The Palace of Rohan - this is where the Rohirrim lived before they had to flee to Helm's Deep.
It's a Lord of the Rings joke - Olly please explain to mum.

The Cathedral looming over the tourist horde. A big moment for us - this was the first steeple we DIDN'T go up.

A new addition for 'Jane and Morgan's Stained Glass Windows of Europe' - our first rose window.

Madonna and child. I feel sorry for Joseph, he doesn't get any windows, statues, paintings - nothing.

Astronimical clock - and a crowd made up entirely of red-heads, I think it might be the setting we had the camera on.

Half timbered houses - note the open vents in the roof - these were houses of tanners and the would dry the hides in the roof space. It must have smelt terrible, they tan hides in pee. 

Bottle of champagne makes Jane happy.

On our second day we took a stroll around the outside of the old city, which is where most of the large civic buildings are. It is a different scale to the old city – grander rather than intimate – and had a lot less tourists. We also visited a museum that recreated a traditional Strasbourg house.

A large important building. The local university had it's own palace - a bit flasher than the quad at Auckland Uni.

The courtyard of the Alsace Tradtional Museum

I'm not on a lean, the balcony is and the wall is bulging. Fun to walk along, makes you feel a bit boozed.

What every good home needs, a Madonna and Jesus cake mold.

The similarity is striking.

This is a large ceramic wood fired heater. It is taller than me.

They put these faces on the grain chutes at the mills. The idea is that the faces would scare the evil spirits out of the grain - it is actually Ergot (a fungus) that can be very poisonous. 

For many years Strasbourg was defended by armed Badgers. As you can see by the lantern, this one was a member of their elite night fighting brigade.

Beds in the cupboard - apparently they are very short because they used to sleep semi sitting up.

We also persisted with a place which we were sure was a restaurant, despite being told to go away a couple of times with ‘no food, no drink’. It turned out they just were not open yet, and the waitress did not speak enough English to tell us. It was a fantastic meal.

Which reminds me, our ‘rules’ on finding a restaurant are:

-       Nowhere with lots of tourists – so generally we stick to side streets or back streets

-       No where with a good view (see above)

-       No menus in English or with photos

-       If it says it is ‘Genuine Alsace Cuisine’ in English – run away.

'No food, no drink indeed' glass of bubbly and smoked braised lamb. I think Olly told me that NZ exports a huge amount of lamb to Germany - so it's a good chance this is from home.

A couple of notes on the campground – we saw a ‘rolling hotel’ which was a converted truck trailer that had a triple layer of sleeping cubicles, possibly 24 beds in all. We also had a helpful pair of old people in the caravan next door, who were happy to sit and stare at our motorhome aaaaaaalll day.  Good to know they were keeping an eye on things.

A monument to the dead of the two world wars - the statue represents a mother holding her two dead sons, one of which fought for France, and the other for Germany.

Mushrooms we bought from the market.

Sausage skewers from the market which I am cooking on my party BBQ. Nothing says party time like sausages.

To mum and dad:

-       The main areas of Strasbourg are full of tourists, but the herd thins as you move away from the center. It was busy in the weekend but pretty much empty during the week.

-       Everything is open in the weekend, including Sunday, but as per the rest of Europe, most of the museums/art galleries etc are shut on a Monday.

-       The information center next to the Cathedral has a very good map + walking tour for 1 Euro.

-       The local bubbly is called ‘Crement’ (obviously NOT Champagne) and it is delicious.