Strasbourg, Saturday October 4

We started the day with a short drive through the countryside to the nearby town of Sélestat, located on a busy railroad line heading from Strasbourg down through Colmar to Basel. After getting burned with €75 tickets from Paris to Strasbourg, it was a welcome surprise to find out that a round trip ticket from Sélestat to Strasbourg cost only €22.50 for the two of us. It was a special weekend and holiday rate, and that one ticket would have been good for a group of 5 people! It was a fast, nonstop trip in to the big city.

Our major plan for the day was to meet up with Bruce’s high school classmate Carolyn MacRae for lunch and an afternoon of touristing. She was in Europe visiting her son and his family in Germany and had coincidentally arranged a side trip to Alsace for a photo expedition in the nearby Vosges mountains at just the time we planned to be here. You can see some of her nice work at her website, and we expect that there will be some Alsace images there after she gets back home.

Not knowing the train schedules, we intentionally got to Strasbourg early and used the time for a second very tasty breakfast and a bit of wandering in the center of town.

First impressions, walking toward town from the railroad station. The older part of town is located on the Grande Île in the Ill River (both pronounced ‘eel’), and the railroad station is just across on the other side.

Here’s the layout of the whole place.

Breakfast, Part II

 Lots of shops along the way. These guys spoke to us.

One of many, many examples of Franglais, clever plays on words, and other violations of the French language that we have encountered so far. They even made word play out of their name for dog poop mitts, toutounets (toutou means doggie, net is clean, and tutu is baby talk for derrière).  Is there still an Académie Française, or have its members all died off?

One of many architectural gems at the square in front of the cathedral. We will be back there later in the day, but now it’s time to find Carolyn’s hotel and get on with the agenda.

Wow, Carolyn’s hotel was deeply camouflaged. We’d hate to be trying to find it after dark while lugging suitcases. Her room was amazingly tiny. We reunited quickly and then set out to decide which of the many lunch offerings we wished to partake of.

 

 The Academy of Beer had an intriguing name, but we settled on a place with a large outdoor area, lovely views, and a marvelous menu. It was called La Corde de Linge, or the Clothes Line, after a laundry that was located next to the river. All the food choices were named for types of fabrics, like wool, cotton, or poplin (laine, coton, popeline).

Carolyn and her monster size blue cheese burger, Sue Anne and her trout in horseradish crust, and Bruce’s chicken with mushroom sauce and spaetzles. Carolyn’s burger was called Blue Jeans on the menu.

And a triple fruit flavored ice cream treat, appropriately garnished and served with colored marshmallows. You never know what you’re going to get.

Then we purchased tickets for a riverboat cruise around the island, due to depart in about two hours. The boat rides are clearly very popular, and they were really booked up. It was a weekend, the weather was beautiful, and more than the usual number of tourists were expected in town due to a holiday in Germany, the Day of Unification (Tag der Deutschen Einheit). We were in Berlin a day or two after the holiday last year, and the party was still going strong.

So, there’s two hours till the boat leaves, but there’s plenty to see in town.

 

 A view looking up toward the cathedral, Notre Dame, completed in 1439. Sue Anne has no idea what the yellow building is that is partially blocking the cathedral, but she liked the roof.

A Segway tour passing the cathedral

Segway, a proud product of New Hampshire!

 
And then onto the boat for a tour around the island. Narration was available via headphones in something like 16 languages. We would run out of bits if we were to have taken a picture of all the beautiful buildings and interesting scenes along the way, so here are just a few of them.

This is said to be the most photographed scene in all of Strasbourg, so we did our part to keep up its reputation. Our lunchtime restaurant can be seen on the right side of the picture.

 We passed through two locks on the way around the island.

One thing we failed to do is to take any pictures of the boat itself. But there are plenty of them available online. Here’s a link.

And the name of the boat service, Batorama, is another great example of the contemporary ruination of the French language. (Bateau = boat) Love it! 

Then a walk back to Carolyn’s hotel, goodbye till next time (likely high school reunion next summer), and walk back to the nearby railroad station. Along the way we passed this outdoor restaurant that had been pointed out in the narration on the boat ride. Once upon a time musicians would sit up in the branches of this very ancient tree and serenade the patrons.

A local train back to Sélestat via a dog leg route took us a bit longer to get back than it had taken to get to Strasbourg in the morning. We were amused on the way by three young children engaging their mother in a spirited game of rock, paper, scissors. Then came a bit of bother till we figured out how to turn on the car’s headlights for the first time, but all ended well.

Then a good night’s sleep after our long day out.

Bergheim, Friday October 3

We started the day with a walk around town. First up the main street, and then out to what remains of the city wall. The place was once totally encircled by defensive fortifications and most likely a moat, and a good bit of it has been preserved for historical purposes. A sign pointed out one place where the bad guys (whoever they might have been at the moment) did manage to breach the wall by use of a siege tower. It must have been quite a feat to build a log road from their safe location right up to the wall and then roll the wheeled tower into position. It sure would be hard to accomplish that in an especially stealthy manner.

The entire circuit around the wall is about 2 km in length. We probably walked about 3/4 of it before getting to a convenient place to get off and head home for lunch by way of the grocery store.

So, here’s a brief tour of Bergheim. A beautiful day, with flowers everywhere.

 

And back at our house, here’s the gate to the courtyard.

Then after lunch we took a drive out into the nearby countryside. It’s grape harvest season and we saw lots of agricultural implements out doing their thing, including this monster that was ahead of us for a while till we got to a safe passing spot.

Then a couple of quick impressions in the small town of Châtenois.

 

The messy bit at the top of the blue tower is a stork nest. They are common around here, encouraged even and quite symbolic of the region. Storks feature in many of the postcards one sees for sale, some with pictures of actual storks, and some where the storks have become cartoon characters.

And an old house, that really is that badly out of shape. No artistic license was required for this drawing.

Next up was a meeting with the two women from yesterday’s art class. They are staying over in the next town but came to Bergheim to take in the sights, capture impressions on paper, show us the other drawings they had completed since our first time together, work with Sue Anne on a new drawing from our position in a sidewalk restaurant, and then kindly treat us to dinner as a gesture of thanks. Here’s Sue Anne’s impression of the scene on the other side of the street. She only noticed the dolls in the windows when carefully focusing on the drawing.

Dinner was what the Alsatians call tarte flambée, but don't take that term too literally. It does not consist of a pie that has been set on fire. We would tend to call it very thin crust pizza without tomato. It basically features different mixes of  meat and cheese (mostly cheese, and mostly a soft white cheese like crème fraîche), all quite delicious. A nice meal, and two nice friends. The outdoor café was next to a little gurgling stream where the washing of clothes was done through the centuries.

Tomorrow we go to Strasbourg for the day to meet up with Bruce’s high school classmate Carolyn MacRae, an accomplished photographer who has been on an picture taking expedition through the nearby Vosges mountains as a side trip while visiting her son and his family in Germany.

Bergheim, Thursday October 2

We are here! And a pleasant day it has been. Breakfast here in our house, especially featuring good bread, cheese, tomatoes, and eggs. A bit more wandering about town in gorgeous weather. Then it was off to the next town, Ribeauvillé, about 3 km away, for the Untour orientation meeting and lunch.

Untour apparently operates on a Wednesday to Wednesday week, and they started things off with a Thursday gathering of everybody who might be in the area. This numbered about 12 people, all Americans from pretty much all around the country. Sitting next to us was a couple from Wisconsin, not that far from Aimée and Steve’s town of Mount Horeb. It’s a small world.

The orientation was conducted by a couple of American expats, well versed on what Americans need to know about subjects like driving, banking, drinking, and health. We were strongly reminded that the car coming from the right always has the right of way, even when entering a major highway from a mere cowpath, unless marked otherwise. The one exception is at roundabouts, which appear to have standardized on the universal practice of right of way to vehicles in the roundabout and marked the entrance roads accordingly.

Then it was lunch, a delightful three course, three wine experience. Very, very tasty. The main course included grilled veal with a delicious sauce, and spaetzle (another one of those words that started out German but got adapted). And a marvelous meringue and ice cream dessert called vacherin.

Sue Anne got talking art with a few of the people, passed around her sketchbook, and learned from two women that they both enjoyed drawing but somehow, despite bringing drawing material with them, often just couldn’t bring themselves to get started at it.

This is a common situation; we've heard it before. The conversation resulted in an offer by Sue Anne for an art lesson. Back at their apartment we traded an opportunity to take in their view of a vineyard and a castle for a lesson and some pleasant conversation.

We had parked in a 5-hour lot in the center of town, figuring that to be easily sufficient to our needs. Nope, the French take long lunches, and the walk out to the apartment at the edge of town ate up more of that time. So once the drawing class got underway,  Bruce walked back to retrieve the car while the lesson continued. What looked on the map like the main street of town turned out to be a narrow, cobblestoned road, jointly occupied by pedestrians and one-way vehicle traffic. Walking it was an enjoyable experience, but Bruce chose the real road around the edge of town for the drive back.

Sue Anne wrapped up the class, the two students were happy with their resulting work, and we made plans to meet for dinner in Bergheim on Friday to give them another locale to capture on paper and compare all their results.

The back garden at their apartment, scene of the drawing lesson. A vineyard is behind the flowers.

The view up to one of the many castle ruins, Chateau Saint Ulrich, done with the built in zoom in Sue Anne’s eyes.

After the marvelous lunch, we settled for a modest supper at home.

Bergheim, Wednesday October 1

A relatively short blog today, describing our trip from Paris to Bergheim in Alsace.

We had been tending to sleep late, so we were sure to set an alarm clock on one of the iPads. It offers a choice of sounds, so we chose the bugle call Reveille. It certainly captures the attention, and it succeeded in getting us up and on our way at the appropriate time. Down four flights of stairs with our suitcases. Here’s the view from the top. Note how worn, rounded, and smoothed they have become over the ages. The handrail was very solid, and we made good use of it.

First a stop at Starbucks. There Sue Anne recalled some of her previous adventures in France with a name that they don’t quite recognize. Here’s how her cup at Starbucks ended up.

Sou is a common, informal French word for a small coin, dating back to the time of Francs and Centimes. So she is now considering becoming Suzanne for the rest of our time in France.

Métro to the railroad station, Gare de l’Est. The plan was for Sue Anne, our designated Francophone, to plead to the authorities that we be able to take the train despite the absence of our tickets, which we apparently had left back home in New Hampshire. After all, we had reservations and the train system is fully computerized like the airlines, so they should be able to verify our story. Non, madame, c’est impossible! So we dug out the credit card and are now €150 less rich, but hoping that we will be able to get back a credit for the unused tickets when we get home.

Fast, easy, comfortable, nonstop ride to Strasbourg on the famed Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV). Very agricultural countryside. Strangely there were numerous pockets of thick fog alternating with sunlight along most of the route. Rental car at the train station, and a drive of perhaps a half hour or so south to Bergheim.

If that name sounds kind of German, it certainly is. It means ‘mountain home’. Alsace has been swapped back and forth between the two countries many times in its history. There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that it is now truly a part of France, but the linguists in us are still fascinated by the many influences of the German language that we see in the area. All the way down the road from Strasbourg (itself a rather German sounding name, though with a slightly different spelling) were signs to towns with names beginning with Ober- or Nieder-, or ending with -heim, -berg, or other familiar German town name suffixes. And they often spell the word vin (wine) with a W.

Scenery along the way from Strasbourg was quite lovely. The Vosges mountains are just to the west, with many of the hilltops occupied by castles. We shall certainly be spending some time there.

Bergheim is a very old, very compact place, dating back at least 800 years or more. Parts of the ramparts and the entry gate tower still remain. Picturesque, and yes even quaint. Our host told us that our house here has parts dating back to the 1200s, though the inside is indeed quite modern and well appointed. It was his family home as a child, and he now lives in the next town and rents this house out to tourists. It was very generously provided with a day or two worth of light food supplies and a bottle of local Riesling, which is all gone now. The place is really too big for us, as we made all the arrangements when we had planned for a party of five. But that’s OK.

We took a brief walk around town but haven’t yet taken any pictures. This drawing captures the spirit of the place, as seen looking through our gate at the house across the street. Half-timbered houses everywhere, with no  lack of brightness.

More to come. Stay tuned!

And to wrap up today’s post, a brief commercial announcement: We mentioned back at the beginning of the blog that this trip was arranged by a company called Untours. They have a stock of rental properties available all over the US, Europe, and a few selected other places. They really know their territory and are very adept at making the fundamental arrangements and providing local assistance if things go wrong. Bruce’s parents took an Untour vacation in Switzerland to celebrate their 50th anniversary, but this is our first experience with them. And we’re very happy at how responsive they have been, especially with all the last minute changes to Aimée, Steve, and Nate’s plans. As their name suggests, they make the arrangements, but it’s up to you to do what you want to do when you get there. That’s OK with us. Link to their website

Paris, Tuesday September 30

Sue Anne began the day with a wander around our neighborhood that culminated in a drawing session in front of a pastry shop. These were always favorite stops on all our visits to European cities, and she captured the offerings at this one for the enjoyment of all.

 

Then it was a great lunch at a Japanese place, one of those non-French establishments along the street that featured in Sunday’s blog. We had to date been pretty much feeding ourselves with food from the store, but this was a genuine sit-down lunch of skewered selections of fish and meat. It was delicious, and it stayed with us all day. In a positive way that is.

First time we’d seen this clever little warning label on a bottle of beer.

Just a couple of blocks away was the Café des Chats (Cat Café). We had just eaten so we didn’t go in, but we did get to see a few of the residents through the front window. The proprietors take in rescue cats, give them a nice home, and invite cat lovers to stop by for a meal in their company. There are strict rules about enticing the cats, feeding the cats, and the like. The cats are in charge, but if they decide that they would like to jump up on your lap and be patted, that’s their prerogative.

Here’s a link to an article about the place.

A few scenes as we walked down the sidewalk to the Métro station

 

Electric car recharging station. We saw quite a few of these around town.

Fancy stove, yours for just over €6000. Original price over €9000!

Then it was onto the Métro and off to Montmartre, in the north of the city. It’s home to Sacré Coeur Cathedral on top of the hill, lots of beautiful views, plenty of tourists, a continuing caution about pickpockets and various scammers, and a consequently high presence of police, and even more heavily armed soldiers in camouflage uniforms.

 

 First you walk up a hill lined with shops. Then you arrive at this first view. There’s still a long way to go.

 But for a spot of fun along the way, check out this double decker carousel off to the left.

 

Remember to turn around and take in the view as you get higher up.

 

 Almost there. You can see the myriad differences in architectural style between this and Notre Dame. No obvious morality lessons here; just magnificence!

But one similarity to Notre Dame is that the singer with the powerful voice we saw there yesterday was here today.

 Tremendous views of the interior!

We obeyed the rules. Most tourists appeared to believe that if they called that thing in their hand a phone, then it was OK. That plus the fact that nobody seemed to be enforcing the rules.

Trust us, it was marvelous inside.

Then down the back side of the hill. Lots of tourist stuff there. Here’s a scene that started out pretty typically.

 Till a wedding couple appeared. The groom was temporarily out of sight, but the bride lingered long enough to become part of the scene.

 

We then walked a couple of doors farther along to a crêpe shop, where we indulged in crêpes avec Grand Marnier. Sticky, but delicious.

Then we continued a bit farther to take in the view of the Lapin Agile (Agile Rabbit) Cabaret, made famous in paintings by Picasso and others and in the more recent Steve Martin play Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which depicted fictional meetings between Picasso and Einstein at this location.

To our surprise and puzzlement, this photo shoot was taking place at the time. They captured lots of images of the model walking around with her balloons, but we had no clue as to what the ultimate purpose of those images was going to be.

One more shot of the Sacré Coeur, and it was time to go home. Agenda for the evening was to get ready to take the train to Alsace the next morning.

Come with us to Alsace, tomorrow!