Blogs from Strasbourg, Alsace, France, Europe - page 6

Bill and I have decided that Robbi is our good luck mascot -- it hasn't rained for two days and we haven't been lost since Linde gave him to us. Guess we had better keep him on the back of the bike for the next few days. It did indeed get cold last night; no clouds equals low temps. But we were packed and ready to go by 7:30 this morning. We had traveled this part of France in 2006 so decided to go a slightly different route this time, cycling through some small villages on our beloved back roads of France and along the canal via a bike path. Arrived in Strasbourg before 1:00, ate a good meal at a restaurant in front of the cathedral (with its beautiful stained glass windows dating back to ... read more

Geo: 48.5829, 7.74375This morning we left Friedrichshafen, headed for Strasbourg, the European Capital. Although the trip was scheduled to take just over three hours, it took somewhat longer than that due to the many photo stops. The route took us firstly along Bodensee, then up through the Black Forest, and then into Northern France. We were fortunate enough to see a Zeppelin Airship just after leaving Friedrichshafen. We then stopped off at the town of Haslach in the Black Forest. Haslach has an old city area, which is where we had a coffee and cake. After leaving Haslach we headed for Strasbourg. Strasbourg is just over the border in Northern France, and has an alternating history of French and German occupation over the centuries. Originally it was the site of the Roman city of Argentoratum in ... read more

On emerging from the American bubble that was Disneyland, we have landed in some odd foreign country. We're still in France but there is such a mixture of languages, food, and architecture here it is quite disorienting as to where we are. Strasbourg is right on the border with Germany and the german influence is very strong. Everyone here is trilingual and extremely fluent. Even though we are persevering with our french attempts we are replied to in either English or German. All menus come with German and English subtitles. The local food specialty is tarte flamme which is like a pizza but a very very thin base (oblong shape with rounded corners), with creme fraiche then whatever topping. No tomato or cheese. They were quite yummy. Not so yummy was the sauerkraut. Very few here ... read more

Panorama A movie set around the Cathedral of Strasbourg. The woman on the right in black is a famous French actress, allegedly...couldn't say who, sorry. I had a chance to pop over the border into France and enjoy the sights of Strasbourg. I love saying that, pop over into France or day trip to Switzerland (not that I've done this yet). Australia is so remote that we can't just say stuff like that offhandedly. Mostly we can say that we've gone to Noosa or Coolangatta or perhaps as far as Byron for the weekend. There used to be secret potluck flights with an old airline-gone-bust, that would fly you to Sydney or Melbourne for a shopping day. Not sure if any of the current providers still have these types of promotions. Anyway...first time, was with the ... read more

yes folks, I think the Gourmet Mink award for best meal on the trip has a winner! Yes I am going to keep this short. After finding my rather groovy hotel by chance today I am also delighted to report that the best meal in France (and my last really) was virtually in the restaurant 10 m from the front door of the hotel. When I walked out earlier I had a quick look at the menu and decided that it would likely be the best place to eat. Although I did a bit of a further wander elsewhere down Grand Rue towards the river there were not really any places that merited attention. There was one very designed interior place which looked very groovy in terms of its design -- but I now question whether ... read more