Gaylene's Ramblings: Cruise Day 3

Tuesday 2nd April 2013

We awoke to the sun shining this morning as we docked in the German town of Kehl, directly across the Rhine River from Strasbourg in France. After a hearty breakfast we were on the bus by 8.30am for a tour of Strasbourg, a lovely multicultural city.

Strasbourg is a mixture of old and new buildings. It reminds me strongly of Christchurch back home and they could use it as a model to rebuild the city ravaged by earthquakes.

We begin with a drive that takes us past the Palais de L’Europe where the European Parliament meets. This building is used one week of each month only when members of the Parliament come from The Hague in Brussels.

We pass the European Council and the European Council of Human Rights. All the important European meetings seem to take place here since Strasbourg established itself as the most important city in Europe in the 16th century. Today it is the centre of European politics.

One most popular visitor has already arrived and we are driven slowly by to admire their accommodation - The Storks!

The city is dotted with lovely squares all around. No cars are allowed in the main areas and trucks are only allowed in for deliveries before 11am.

The city was French/German/French/German/French. No love is lost between our guide and the invaders. Each time they were taken over they had to swap names, languages and cultures overnight. French and German language are both taught in school with English at secondary level.

Our walking tour takes us through the picturesque Petite France area which is the former tanners district. We stop many times to admire the city’s remarkable Renaissance architecture and take photos.

We admire the Customs House and the charming covered bridges with their defensive towers.

Next stop is Strasbourg Cathedral, one of the finest of Europe’s great Gothic cathedrals.

We decide a toilet stop is in order before entering the castle. ½ an hour later we’re still in the queue. Several of the group opt to use the mens room as there is no queue but are quickly and brusquely shooed out by the female attendants. None of that nonsense is happening on their watch!

Finally it’s into the cathedral, an imposing gothic structure which looks like it needs a good sandblasting outside. The cathedral took 300 years to build and is built of sandstone.

Inside we find the most remarkable stained glass windows - all except one are original windows from the 1400's. During WWII the townspeople removed the windows and took them away. What a feat that must have been, imagine leaving town and only taking the church windows?

(unfortunately I've lost all my fabulous and many photos of the windows, especially the round one)

But when Hitler occupied Strasbourg he demanded their return. For some reason they were returned to another German town where an enterprising soldier stored them under salt mines. Thus they were returned intact at the end of the war.

The Americans bombed the cathedral; 4 bombs landed in one place - an error but they apologised so all was ok!

Along with the windows the cathedral boasts a Renaissance astronomical clock, a real marvel of engineering. We light a candle at the Cathedral of Our Lady.

After our tour of the cathedral we spend some time browsing the many gift shops. I love the slabs of gingerbread here and am fascinated by the giant gingerbread men in shops. There is time to buy some postcards, write them up and post them in the local post office.

It is still extremely cold so we forgo the option to catch a later bus back to the boat and head back for lunch.
Not even an afternoon of wine touring in the Alsace region inspires me to stay out.

The hot soup revives me along with pasta and desert. Then it’s wrap up warm and off out for a stroll over a fabulous footbridge over to France then back to Germany. The footbridge has different sections for walking and cycling and once again I am impressed by the features that make using the outdoors easier here. Our ship looks wonderful viewed from across the river.

A 2 hour nap for me then it’s time for tea and cookies and a chat to others on board. Back to the cabin to write up my notes for the day before I forget all I’ve seen then send some photos via Facebook to the family back home.

We are finding that having cash is much easier than trying to use Pam’s prepaid card as some gift shops don’t accept this form of payment. Money machines are few and far between in many of the places we visit.

Time for a glass of bubbly before dinner which is French themed. I opt for the Sea bass nicose. Others opt for the duck with pear shaped potatoes.