Strasbourg, France Day 1
We were in Strasbourg, France in the middle of November. The city was already getting ready for Christmas because its Christmas market would be open in a week. Their Christmas market was known as the oldest in France, which was originated in 1570. We missed the Christmas market, which means we nicely avoided crowds and we were able to focus on sightseeing of the capital city of the Grand Est region (formerly Alsace) in northeastern France.
On the arrival day, we started with breakfast as usual. We had croissant and cappuccino at L'Atelier 116, located on Grand'Rue, one of the old town's main shopping streets. It's a small bakery with a few indoor and outdoor tables and so many choices of sweet and savory breads and pastries in both French and German styles based on the city's unique history of changing hands between the two countries. There were Mannala, small brioche breads shaped like little men, traditionally made in Alsace for Saint Nicolas holiday. I think they were similar to Boxemännchen that we saw and ate in Luxembourg and they were cute!
The old town of Strasbourg was cute, too. Colorful half-timbered houses and narrow cobbled streets. Even on a light rainy day it was a lovely place to walk around.
We stopped by at Église Saint-Thomas. Founded in the 7th century, the church is one of the oldest buildings in the city although the oldest parts of the current buildings were from the 13th century because it was completely destroyed in 1007 and 1144 by fires due to storms and lightning.
We walked through bridges called Ponts Couverts de Strasbourg, parts of the city wall from the 14th century. The four large towers on the water created a lovely scenery, which actually used to be prisons and fortifications until the early 19th century.
Modern tramway runs around the old town.
We stopped by at another church with pretty stained glasses. However, I don't remember which one it was...
Giant teddy bears were celebrating the upcoming holiday season!
A giant Christmas tree was just being decorated at Place Kléber, the largest square at the center of the city.
What you really can't miss in the city was Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg. With the 142 meter high spire, the cathedral was the world's tallest building until 1874; today it's the 6th tallest church in the world. It's certainly an absolute masterpiece of Rayonnant Gothic art and a gorgeous centerpiece of the city of Strasbourg.
The construction of the magnificent cathedral started in 1015 and completed in 1439. The interior - the nave, the rose window, the stained glasses, the astronomical clock, etc - was as beautiful as the exterior.
Lunch time! We tried local cuisine at a restaurant called Le Tire-Bouchon near the cathedral.
J had Royal Sauerkraut - seven meats and potatoes. It's one of the best known classic Alsace delicacies, also called Choucroute Garnie in French, which means garnished sauerkraut. According to the name, sauerkraut was lavishly garnished with sausages and cured meats as well as potatoes, seasoned with spices and Alsatian wine. Very meaty indeed.
I had Munster au gratin, sautéed potatoes and green salad. I expected something like a cheese-y potato gratin, but melted cheese and potatoes were served separately. So, I dipped potatoes in the cheese like a cheese fondue style. Munster originated in ancient monastic Alsace, France, so I wanted to try the cheese during this trip. It tasted nice but much stronger than those I had for sandwiches in the States.
We needed more walk after the rich lunch. We crossed a bridge and stepped outside of the old town toward Neustadt, or the German Quarter, known for the Prussian-style buildings. While the city looked busy to get ready for Christmas, some autumn colors still remained on the streets at that time.
We walked more and eventually arrived at Parc de l'Orangerie. The city's oldest (since 17th century) park was one places on of my "go-to" list because I wanted to see the bird symbol of Alsace in person - storks. It is said that more than 800 storks has been born in the park since 1971 and they are there all the seasons. The park was large. I didn't know where exactly they were supposed to be. We wandered and searched the birds...
Then we started seeing quite strange things on top of the trees. Soon we found out that they were huge nests for huge birds. There were so many nests actually.
We didn't see any bird first but heard a strange call. There was a bird on the nest! We believed it was a stork. We took many pictures and some video of the bird. We were very happy to meet the symbol of the city! However, later J studied the images of the bird closely and told me that the bird shouldn't be a stork but probably looked like a goose... Really?!
Anyway at least I was able to see such impressive bird nests and it was a nice long walk to the park, which gave us an opportunity to see more buildings and streets outside of the old town. The old town is actually an island surrounded by the River Ill and the Canal du Faux-Rempart. The various views from the bridges were definitely a charm of Strasbourg.
We came back to the old town.
The cathedral, again!
Woo-hoo! A roasted chestnut vender!
Gutenberg Platz was the memorable square that we sat down and ate roasted chestnuts. The weather got improved by then.
We saw a huge kougelhopf, a regional brioche cake at a bakery. I was going to get one during this trip but not that one.
Église Saint-Thomas, again!
We passed by at House of Tanners Restaurant, a 16th century building on the riverside and another most beautiful half-timbered house in the city. I was curious how the inside looked like but the restaurant seemed very popular and there was no available tables during our stay. Perhaps next time.
We found ourselves on Grand'Rue, where we started the day.
Workers were setting up more Christmas lights on the street.
J's favorite canned sardine shop was also on the street. Of course, we did some shopping there.
Some sweets and hot tea sounded nice to wrap up the day. We visited L'Atelier 116 again. I had Mont Blanc. J had lemon tart. We both had a cup of tea. It was a long and enjoyable day!
To be continued...
