Crossing the Border

 

After nine days in Munich, we left the city for our mini road trip during which we crossed into several European countries. Our first destination was Alsace where we planned to spend a few days. On our way there we decided to stop for lunch in Tübingen, my old stomping grounds.

I moved to Tübingen after I had graduated from high school in order to study at the university. Tübingen is a mediaval town with narrow alleys and hidden corners, all of which I got to know and love so well during the 22 years I lived there. I was very lucky that pretty soon after graduating with a master's degree I found a job in a town nearby. I commuted for many years because I simply didn't want to leave Tübingen. Coming back after so many years to a town that will always have a special place in my heart was a bit weird - and interesting. The routing of streets was as odd as it was more than 20 years ago and thus felt very familiar. Some well-loved pubs and restaurants weren't there any longer; in their place I saw modern shops that no one seemd to visit. One of the restaurants where I used to spend many lovely times was still operating and this is where we had our lunch.

Through the Black Forest we made it to Strasbourg where we first checked in our hotel that we had booked some time during the day and then took the tram to the city center. Other than in Munich where almost everyone wore masks in public transportation, France behaved like there never was a pandemic. Only a couple other people and ourselves were the only ones who wore masks in the rather crowded tram. Clearly, no one cared about COVID anymore. My daughter - the budding epidemiologist - was not impressed.

The famous cathedral is visible from almost everywhere.

Strasbourg, located right on the border between Germany and France, is a cosmopolitan city through and through. It is the largest city of the Grand Est region of Eastern France and the official seat of the European Parliament. The most attractive part of course is the historic city center, the Grande Île (Large Island), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As the name suggests, it is an island that is surrounded by the main channel of the Ill River on one side and by the Canal du Faux-Rempart on the other side. Strasbourg lies on the Rhine which is the bordering river between France and Germany.

We spent most of the evening on the Grande Île, wandering along the streets and narrow alleys. It was a warm evening and many people were out and about. 

The Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg or Strasbourg Minster is an impressive old building of outstanding Gothic architecture. The cathedral is the sixth-tallest church in the world (the tallest one is the Minster in Ulm, Germany) with just one octagonal tower instead of the originally envisioned two spires. Here is the west front with its spectacular rose window and gallery of the apostles:

The Place de la Cathédrale was busy with restaurants getting ready to welcome dinner guests.

We weren't ready for dinner yet, but preferred to walk around a bit more, looking for the famous "La Petite France", probably the most touristy spot in the city, but beautiful.

I enjoyed looking at the old houses and finding pretty little nooks and niches (the pots on the balcony are of the famous Betschdorf pottery industry).

Or weird shop window displays... (I couldn't resist taking this picture!)

We eventually had dinner and just enjoyed the lively atmosphere before we headed back to the hotel. It had been a long day.

The next morning we found a little street café where we had an excellent breakfast with wonderful coffee and very tasty bread, butter and homemade jam. This is my ticket for T Tuesday that Elizabeth is hosting every week. After that breakfast we headed further into Alsace (more posts to come).