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Yesterday we went to an American World War II cemetery in St. Avold, France, and Strasbourg! The cemetery was humbling, and going to Strasbourg was really exciting for me; it was my first time to France, and my father's family ancestry comes from the Alsace-Lorraine region (our ancestor came from there when it belonged to Germany). Strasbourg is almost directly on the French-German border. The 2,000 year old city belongs to modern day France, and French is predominantly spoken, but it's adjacent to the Rhine River, and Germany is literally on the other side. Because of the centuries of going back and forth, it's considered the bridge between France and Germany, and there's a lot of elements of both in the town. The city also has around 650,000 inhabitants.
Driving across the border from Germany to France was interesting. Once we hit the border, EVERYTHING on the other side was different. The road signs and markings....everything. Plus I could actually understand the signs!! The French have their roads and directions marked much better than the Germans do.
We arrived in St. Avold at the cemetery around 12:00 or so. It was serene and quiet there, and there are
about 10,489 graves there of Americans who fought in WWII. There are a few more also of unknown soldiers, along with a wall inscribed with names of soldiers whose remains were never found. Most of the graves are marked with crosses, and Jewish soldiers' graves are marked with Stars of David. I don't really know what to say about it other than it was just really sad to see so many killed by war. I wonder if all of their families have been able to come over and visit their graves...that would be really sad if some couldn't afford to see their loved ones graves. The area they're buried in is really incredible. All of the grass seed used for the grass, the flowers, the trees, and shrubs are all imported from America. It's literally and figuratively considered American soil.
We arrived in Strasbourg around 2:00, I believe. Strasbourg is a neat city--I wish we had time to stay longer, or stay even a few more days. I'm still a big lover of Cambridge, England, but Strasbourg is really nice too in its own way. It's far bigger and a little dirtier, but it's still got the old world
charm to it. Here are some fun facts: Strasbourg used to be a center of humanism during the Holy Roman Empire. A lot of the buildings are German style, and there's lots of street vendors and street side bistros. French is also the spoken language. The European Court of Human Rights is also there, along with the EU Parliament.
We parked in a parking garage and went to the Strasbourg Cathedral first. I ADORE cathedrals, and I told myself when I came to Europe I was going to "cathedral myself out," and this was the first of some of them. The Strasbourg Cathedral is interesting not only for it's beauty, but because it's not technically finished. Construction began in the 12th century and was halted in 1439, but the south tower still isn't finished. There is also an astronomical clock on the inside. I'm not sure what they used this for, how it works, or why it's on the inside of the cathedral (I know there's one in Prague too, outdoors) but it's beautiful nonetheless. What I really liked was that admission inside the cathedral was free and photography was permited!
After that we walked around a little
Strasbourg Building
A lot of the structures look like this. and ate. The cathedral is in the center of the city by an area called "Petite France" (it got that name when Strasbourg still belonged to Germany). Angie grabbed a mozerella sandwich from a street vendor, and I sat down and ordered food (in FRENCH!) from a place called "Palais de la Glace." (Translation: Ice Cream Palace) Despite the name, I ordered a croque monsieur (one of my favorite French foods--it's a sandwich) and an Orangina--a type of orange pop popular in France that's made with orange juice and pulp in it. Nerd alert: ever since I learned about it in French class I've wanted to try some. And I like it!
We walked around in Petite France a little, and saw the towers that are on the canals there. They used to overlook and help guard the city. Around that time we decided to walk back to the car and find the Parc de l'Orangerie before we left town. We had a hell of a time getting there with all the one ways and pedestrian streets we kept walking into (thank GOD for city maps), but we eventually made it. Angie remarked that the street signs were better
there, and if we were in Germany we would have never found it.
The Parc de l'Orangerie was a park made for Joséphine de Beauharnais--Napoleon's wife. The park also includes a small zoo, gardens, lake, and a neo-classical castle. There was also an Indian wedding going on there while we were sauntering. It was really cool. We didn't stay long because it was about 7pm and we had a two hour drive back to Kaiserslautern, so we left. It was good too, because AJ was starting to get cranky. Poor guy.
Well, that was our trip to the French border. We may have to go to Belgium after Paris (Angie ran into MORE paperwork problems) but eventually it will all turn out ok. In the meantime, here's more pics!
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