Day 13 - Strasbourg, a train ride, and the second Notre Dame

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Day Thirteen - we got up very early (well Danny did anyway, he then had to convince me that I really did want to get out of bed so we could go catch the train), finished packing, and checked out of the Victor Masse.
We hauled our ridiculous amount of luggage through two metro stations, and finally, with zero help from the snooty guy at the metro ticket office, we found our way out of the station and across the road to the main station.
We then had to figure out where to line up to buy our tickets to Strasbourg. This was way harder than it sounds.
Yet another moment where we wished we cold speak French, we found the only line we could see and joined it. Fifteen minutes later we found out we were in the wrong line, and were directed to information, who then directed us to the shopfront which sold tickets.
Another long line, and then we got to find out that the trains for that entire day to Strasbourg were fully booked and we couldn't get on them. Initially they just said "you cannot go to Strasbourg today, all the trains are fully booked." But when we just stood there looking annoyed, disappointed, confused and probably a lot like startled fish, they actually helped us by finding a train that would link us up through Metz, where we could change onto another train and get to Strasbourg.
We were most relieved, and agreed that we were happy to do that. Then we finally went and got some breakfast as we had left the hostel too early to have any there.

So we sat and waited for our train to come, I got stuck in the door trying to get on with a suitcase, a huge backpack, and a pack on my front as well, but we made it on, sat in someone else's seat, got kicked out of that seat, and went and found our own (since we don't know the word for seat we just assumed you could sit anywhere, but the guy was really nice about it!). This meant getting all of our bags down from the overhead compartments, and struggling through the tiny aisles while people stared at us... not much fun!

At the Metz station I finished reading my book (I read a whole book on the train to Metz and in the station - lucky I bought more in Paris!) while Danny made friends with a funny little guy who spoke French mainly, but had learnt English at school. He had been out of school a year and had forgotten a bit of it, so whenever he couldn't think of the right word he would break off in a torrent of French, and Danny would just stare at him and then crack up. He was getting on the same train as us, so he helped us find the right platform.

The trip was lovely, I read a lot of the way, and Danny fell asleep, but I also spent a lot of time looking out the window, especially when we travelled through a town. It was so cool seeing the different styles of houses, and the huge fields. It is a very green country, which is very refreshing!

We arrived in Strasbourg and decided it would be a good idea to get our tickets to Brussels while we were at the train station. It took about a half hour, but it will save us a lot of time and effort, and the possible risk of finding the train we want is completely booked again. Then we loaded ourselves up with our luggage and almost died carrying everything to the hostel. It was actually only about a fifteen minutes walk, but it felt like a lot longer. Between Danny's stomach strap being broken, and me having tiny girl shoulders, we were both aching by the time we got there, but it was such a relief to get the packs off and head out to see Strasbourg with a lot less weight!

We were pretty hungry by this point, so we found a place that looked similar to Wok-it-Up... it did not taste very similar, although it filled us up well enough, and I think they served Kangaroo there (see photo)... We got the chicken.
It made me wonder what the national animal is in France and whether we eat it back home. I haven't seen any animals here so far except for really fat pigeons or those tiny little birds in the park in Paris, so I don't know if they would have a national animal. Danny thinks they would have surrendered it a long time ago.

After this we went to the Strasbourg Notre Dame, which we liked way more than the Paris one. It was still a little bit commercialised, but they had a lot of signs up saying "Silence Please" and they didn't have a gift shop, only a few candles for sale. All the gift shops were lining the street outside, so we were much more pleased with that arrangement that the Paris one.
Plus it was really cool. We climbed up the towers, which totally freaked me out. I was so frightened on the way up. They have these little bits in the staircases that have these open-window sort of things, which made it very clear just how high up I was. I think Danny got a good glimpse of just how afraid of heights I am.
The view was pretty cool, but I was very hesitant to go close to the edges. I made Danny hold my hand while I walked over there, then I took a few pictures and went quickly back into the middle.

We were meant to go to the Palais Rohan after this (which is a museum in an old Palace) but we got really distracted walking around looking at all the shops so we forgot to go there!
We had a great afternoon walking around, checking out the river/canal that runs through here and all the souvenir shops. I wanted a cuckoo clock, but eventually agreed that it was far too heavy, and quite a silly thing to buy anyway, considering how much I hate the sound of ticking clocks while I am trying to sleep. I think I would end up breaking it if it made a stupid noise at me every hour.

We were thoroughly exhausted by this point, so we headed back to the hostel to chill out for a while.
This was when we discovered the smell coming from the drain in the bathroom.
We don't know what it is, we don't know how to make it go away, but it is dreadful, and we are currently avoiding the bathroom as much as humanly possible.

Also, the lift here is even smaller than the one at the Victor Masse. I didn't think that was possible, but we had to go up separately with our luggage, and even then it was a struggle to fit in there with the suitcase and two packs.
We found a cool little place for dinner, and Danny completely demolished a pizza.
We are getting on pretty well with communicating - we keep greeting everyone with 'Bonjour' and that seems to go down well, but we get lost when they start asking us questions in French. It is even more confusing here because they have French, German, and the random few who speak Alsatian as well. This means it is really hard to find any menus that have English on them! They have French, then German, and if we are really lucky, there is a third translation into English!

Manford likes it here. He keeps going into the bathroom for some reason. He says the smell reminds him of his childhood home.

Love you all lots.

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Comments

[dad]

The amazing race
This morning I feel like I am watching the Amazing Race by reading of your travels across France. I think you should go back to the shop that sells the suit of armour though and buy that to put in your back packs as well. Robert has just come into the room and says to say hello to you both.

[Wez]

Funny
Danny and his animal comment. Also get him to read the Notre Dame captions and think of Family Guy =p