The last couple of days Dave and I have been free to wander around Strasbourg and take in the city as tourists. With the apartment secured, the internet, phone and electricity set up and ISU business taken care of for the time being, we spent Saturday and Sunday exploring Strasbourg and taking some pictures!
Strasbourg is a beautiful city. Even the pictures I have taken could never capture its full beauty - you need to walk the cobbled streets, hear the Cathedral bells and smell the tantalizing scents from its many bakeries (or patisseries!) to get a true appreciation for Strasbourg. It is a city that I look forward to exploring and getting to know in the months ahead.
Strasbourg is right on the French border next to Germany. Throughout history it has been both a German and a French city, with the latest war resulting in Strasbourg being within French boundaries. As such, everything I have read about Strasbourg highlights the fact that this French city has a very distinct German influence - manifesting itself in the language, the architecture and the cuisine. It is a very interesting place where you get a taste of two very discrete cultures and get to experience the hybrid which has developed in this specific place due to its French and German influences.
One of my favourite things about Strasbourg so far is its many bridges and canals. Strasbourg is right on the Rhine and has many smaller rivers and estuaries flowing through it and around it. As you walk around the city you are never far from water. Centreville, or the city centre, is basically situated on an island – with a river winding its way around it. Thus, you cross multiple bridges and canals as you come and go. The bridges are decorated with profuse flowering baskets at this time of year and there are multiple benches to sit on and take in the lovely scenery. Along the rivers there are fisherman trying their luck, weeping willows grazing the surface of the water and pathways where the city’s many dog owners take their K9s for a walk – and sometimes a swim! You will also see multiple ducks and swans in the river as well as canal boats showing tourists the city at its best.
On Saturday Dave and I spent the day wondering around Centreville. Our first stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral – one of France’s foremost gothic style cathedrals. Of course this is not as large as Paris’ Notre Dame, but nonetheless it was extremely impressive. I am always amazed that these structures were built in a time where the technology was so basic – pulleys and levers and plain old human labour. Even with the technology we have today we no longer build such buildings, nor do we put the time and effort and the sweat into carving minute details into every surface as they did then. It is truly amazing. You can’t help but admire the craftsmanship and the dedication the workers and the planners had to their vision and to God. It took about 60 years for Strasbourg’s Notre Dame to be built. That is a lifetime!
After we visited the Cathedral we wandered the streets taking in all the activities that were going on. Every Saturday and Wednesday Centreville hosts a market – where vendors sell everything from antiques, to produce, to books. It is really interesting to see what people bring with them on these days and check out the prices! There were multiple flower vendors and I not so subtly dropped hints to Dave that he should maybe buy me market flowers from time to time!
As we wandered we also came across a group of Salsa dancers giving a demonstration, some clowns performing for children and painters offering to create portraits or caricatures for anyone willing to sit and pay! We sat in Place Gutenberg and Place Kleber and watched children on the carousel, people cooling their feet in the fountains and the many pigeons searching for food by the outdoor cafes!
It seems that there is never a shortage of things going on - however it is high tourist season right now, so we will see what it is like in January/February! But right now it is very fun to be in such a bustling city with so much going on.
Today (Sunday) Dave and I went to Trinity International Church for the second time and know that we have found a home church for our year in Europe. Thankfully for me it is an English speaking church so I can actually understand what is being said! But there are also many French people who go there who either know English or listen to a translator translate the service. It is nice to be able to meet so many different people - everyone has been extremely kind to us and we have been invited to people's houses multiple times already. After church we were invited to go to Orangerie Park with a group of people from the church for an informal picnic. We said yes and told people we would meet them there - however when we got home we laid down for a "little" nap and woke up 1.5 hours later! We rushed to the park and ran into one family who were just leaving - and they were the last to leave! We apologized for being late and missing everyone and then proceeded to explore the park. We were disappointed we were not able to visit with the people who had kindly invited us, but we enjoyed seeing the park as it was the first time we were there.
Orangerie Park is right beside the Council of Europe Parliament Building and it is absolutely beautiful....I regret not bringing my camera, but I know I will go back to take pictures. There are flower gardens, multiple fountains, gazebos, pavilions, ponds, etc. There is even a little lake where you can rent row boats and go paddling on the water - again I hinted to Dave that that would be a romantic thing for us to do! It was a lovely afternoon seeing the park and people watching. It was a very hot day so the park was packed with young people and families enjoying the summer weather. And there were so many dogs - I loved watching them run around and frolick in the grass!
All in all it has been a wonderful weekend and we were glad to finally spend some days just enjoying the city together! Tomorrow orientation week starts for ISU students - meaning there are fun activities planned, no work yet! So we will be meeting more people from the school and doing more touristy things with the ISU group - such as a bike tour around Strasbourg, a trip to Germany to some hot springs, and a BBQ at one of the local lakes. I am very excited to meet some more people and do some of these fun activities before Dave settles into the routine and business of school. We will enjoy our last full week together before he becomes a Masters student!
I have found a few things that I will be involved with this coming year - taking French courses for sure - I am looking into a couple of different schools. And I will hopefully be volunteering at an English/French pre-school. The kids have pre-school in French two days a week and English the other two days they go - so I would be helping with the English but also being exposed to French! So we will see how that goes! But I am confident I will be able to find enough to do to keep me busy as I do not want to be laying about the house all day! Dave will be so busy and I need to find things to keep me busy too!
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