Using a deal through SNCF we booked a cheap train leaving Lyon at 6am Sunday and arriving just after 10am in Strasbourg. After a short walk we reached the apartment and got our key before taking a quick jaunt to an épicerie to buy some fruit, wine and snacks to have for later (since on a Sunday in France essentially no store is open after 12pm). After dropping our purchases off we went to discover our surroundings. It was nice that the streets were a little quieter than usual because we'd wanted to escape on a relaxing getaway to a quaint city. Passing a boulangerie James bought himself a nutella croissant while I went for a classic pretzel. So began the delicious food!
As I mentioned Strasbourg is known for its spectacular Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg and we were staying about a ten second walk away from it. It is immense and extremely breathtaking with its gigantic tower, its detailed figures built into the facade and its flying buttresses. It was built entirely in the middle ages and held the tallest building record between 1647-1874. It is a beacon when walking around Strasbourg and the top site to see in Alsace. The interior of the church is also quite captivating with its arches as well as the main feature for visitors: the astronomical clock. Every day at 12:30pm the clock's automatons perform a procession, so at around ten past noon James and I started to wait patiently for the show among a throng of tourists. The clock is quite grand so we were expecting something notable, but were kind of disappointed with what we got. The automatons moved around slightly, but with all the decor on the clock it appeared as though a lot more would happen and it just didn't... The lesson we learned here was don't get your expectations too high before knowing what you're going to see. Nevertheless it was pretty interesting to see the automatons do their thing, just not worth wasting a half an hour on since it barely lasts five minutes. I guess I was too eager for a show!
We carried on exploring and came across lots of buildings with that German architectural look of wooden slats and slanted roofs. There was also a marathon taking place so we came across some runners and cheered them on near the end of the finish line. After a couple of hours of walking we were ready to grab a bite and head back to the apartment to chill out for a while. We decided sausages were next on the menu and so we selected cheese-filled sausages that came in baguettes. They were giant and also very tasty!
We took a little nap after our snack and when dinner time came around we did a little research to see where we would dine. We opted to check out the area of Petite France, a tiny island off the main island, to eat at Au Pont Saint Martin. Walking through the streets and over the little bridges to the island provides snapshots of stepping back in time. There is an old mill and a lock right nearby so at night under moonlight it was neat to hear the water rushing by.
We were seated on the lowest level which is right on the river in a both literally and figuratively warm room. Prior to leaving Lyon we'd been told that we needed to try flammenkueche as well as choucroute so with this meal we were able to tick off the first one. Flammenkueche, also called tarte flambée, is like a pizza but on very thin base with cream, onions, potatoes and lardons and on ours we also opted for cheese. It was delicious! And so light! The perfect starter to whet our appetites. For the main course James chose a turkey escalope in a mushroom cream sauce while I went for braised pork knuckle with horseradish. Yum! We washed that down with Alsatian beer but passed on dessert as we were pretty stuffed afterwards. We headed back to the apartment by walking along the river and popped open a bottle of Gewurztraminer to finish off the evening relaxing at our temporary home.
Day two started with a well-known French delight: crepes. Delicious but so messy! I opted for caramel and James shockingly went for chocolate (he always does) and there were definitely some sticky hands after that breakfast on the go. We started off with a walk along the river as we were planning to visit the botanical gardens at the Université de Strasbourg, but because it is France they had really weird hours and it was closed until 2pm, two hours from the time we arrived. So sadly we gave up that idea and headed to another outdoor space instead at Place de la République, taking in some more lovely views of the city around the river on the way.
While sitting in the park we were trying to organize where to go next and James had been interested in visiting the EU Parliament building. Unfortunately our plan to see that was also dashed based on sitting times of MEPs (Members of European Parliament) and the fact that they don't really have individual tours so we just headed back to the main part of the city to get some lunch. We settled on a 'winstub' (a traditional Alsatian restaurant - found this interesting article on the subject: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/eating-and-drinking-in-alsace-france) called Zuem Strissel which has been around since 1385. We'd been subject to a windy and slightly wet climate in Strasbourg but that didn't stop us from sitting on the patio. I had been craving French onion soup so I knew I what I was getting, but James went for the other top recommendation for food in Alsace: choucroute garnie. It's sauerkraut with a variety of pork cuts garnishing the dish and he could not have been happier when the server placed the plate in front of him!
With all that warm food in us we were ready to get back to being tourists. One thing we had planned to do no matter what was to cross over into Germany because when you're that close you just have to. So we got ourselves to a tram stop and took it to the end of the line then caught a bus that takes you right to the city of Kehl across the river. It was about a 20 minute trip overall and when we got there it was strange to think we were suddenly in Germany! Admittedly there is not much on offer in Kehl so we just walked down the pedestrian street to a large square featuring a church and then headed into H&M where James used some birthday money to buy a new hoodie. We did however get to use some basic German (hallo, danke, tchus) to make us feel like we'd truly traveled somewhere foreign which was kind of exciting. We then took the passerelle, a bridge for walking and cycling, to cross back over the Rhine into France. I can say with certainty I've never walked over a country border before and especially not via a pedestrian bridge! The really neat thing about being on the bridge was that you could see the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) in the distance.
After a long day of walking we picked up a couple of beers and relaxed at the apartment before packing up and heading to the train station for our 7pm departure. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Strasbourg and probably could have done with one more day but we're happy to have seen what we did. It's left us wanting to see much more of France and we're trying to plan a trip to the northwest as well as the southwest. We're slowly making our way around l'Hexagone!
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