Strasbourg

Today I felt like I did the impossible: woke up at 5am.  By 5:40am we were tearing through the streets of Paris at an unbearably fast pace to get to a metro station that would take us directly to our destination of the Gare de l'Est (or the East Train Station).  Fortunately upon our arrival I had time to get a chausson aux pommes (sort of like an apple turnover) and a water before boarding the TGV and zooming off to the French-German border.


We arrived in Strasbourg at just about 9am and at 9:30am we met our tour guide in front of the city's cathedral.

The cathedral was built in several different parts so it's made up of three different architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, and High Gothic.  It also has an enormous amount of stained glass and is very well-preserved.  

After leaving the cathedral, we went on a tour of the oldest part of the town, known as Petite France.  

Here, the canal's wind through the narrow cobblestone streets, houses are made of wooden beams and plaster, and flowers bloom in profusion in every window.  It was absolutely enchanting.

So much so that we decided to eat lunch there when we were given our "lunch break" around 11:30am.  

I have to say that this was probably the best meal I've had so far in France.  The server was strangely friendly and outgoing, the atmosphere was wonderful, and the food was to die for.  I ordered the formule, so my first course was a salad and munster cheese pastry:

My entree was a mixed grill with salad and frites: 

And my dessert was a to-die-for crème brûlée: 

After lunch we got onto a bus and drove about an hour south to a castle in the Vosges mountains.  The castle is known as Haut-Koenigsbourg and used to be a medieval castle, in use until about 1500.  In the Thirty Years War it was sieged and abandoned until 1900 when it was renovated to look mostly like it used to in the Middle Ages.

The best part about the castle though was the view from the top level.  From there you can see out for miles into the valley where small villages are nestled in between fields and vineyards.

On the drive back to Strasbourg we weaved through wine country instead of taking the highway.  Though we were speeding along rather briskly in the bus, I still managed to get some great pictures of the countryside.

When we arrived back in the city we stopped to pay a quick visit to both the European Parliament and the European Council, both parts of the European Union and located in Strasbourg.

Then we got back on the TGV and headed back to Paris.  We arrived in the city a bit after 9pm and then took a bus back to the Foyer.  I immediately took a shower and made dinner.  I'm currently uploading pictures, finishing my blog, and going to bed.  Today was exhausting.