A whole day in Strasbourg - one of the prettiest cities on our tour.
Our day started at 9 with a panoramic bus tour of the outskirts of the city. Normally, this would not be a highlight, but we drove passed the Council of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights,
and the European Parliament.
These 3 entities exercise the legislative function of the EU. Part of the latter looks unfinished to accommodate new members.
Then we were dropped off in the old section, which is actually an island surrounded on two sides by the River Îll, a tributary of the Rhine.
Known as "Petite France," this is also called "the tanner's quarters" where hides were processed during the Middle Ages, polluting the river. Today the water was in pristine condition along with the carefully restored tanner's buildings.
We continued to walk along the Grand Îll (Grand Island), passed some intriguing small shops, and came to a small outdoor market near St. Thomas Church.
Vendors were selling nougat, a popular sweet here;
cheese cut from large rounds;
and large loaves of seasoned breads, cut in slices and weighed.
The Alsace region is known for food and our guide took us to a shop that used 7 "secret" spices in its gingerbread (pain d'epices). Another had Kougelhopf, a yeast cake bread made in a bundt-shaped pan with raisins, almonds and cherry brandy.
We ended up in the Gutenberg Square, which is also a market square, named after the German who invented the printing press.
There was a lovely merry-go-round with a second level that I had never seen before.
From here it was a short walk to the main event - a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral and to watch the 1838 astronomical clock inside. The outside of the church is impressive -- much like the one in Cologne.
All of these Gothic Churches that I have seen around Europe were started around the early 1200s and finished in the 1400s. The excellent book "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet explains how these medieval engineers figured out the concept of "flying buttresses" to make the walls higher and built these cathedrals throughout Europe. The fact that this development was shared across boundaries always intrigued me.
Our guide was a little dismissive about the "clock event," and we should have listened to her. We and all the other tourists crowded into a small corner of the cathedral at 11:45 to see a movie and the clock movement at 12:30. The movie kept "having technical difficulties." Then at 12:30 the clock chimed and the 12 apostles paraded around a statue of Jesus -- about 30 ft. up so we could barely see. To future travelers, don't bother. Nothing like the clock in Prague. The scaffolding didn't help either.
Afterwards Ed and I decided to stay in town for lunch. We found a lovely outdoor cafe where I had quiche Lorraine and Ed had a burger. But we should have had an "Alsace pizza tarte" or "tarte flambé." The women next to us had one and it looked delicious. It was an extremely thin pizza crust, like a cracker, topped with spreadable cheese or sour cream and onions.
Ed and I walked around a little longer and then he took the next bus back. I stayed just to walk around town, although we had seen most of it. I did catch a few more shots of this very traditional city.
Tonight was the "farewell dinner." We had such a good time with the folks from Lexington that we wanted to get together again. I commandeered a private dining room with seating for 10 and included two other couples we had met. The 10 of us had our own private party and a great evening!
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