9/10/11 (cool date) Happy Birthday to Heather, I went to Strasbourg, France for your birthday.

Here is it 9/10/11 (how is that for a cool date?) Besides being a cool date, it is Heather's 26th birthday. Oh my gosh the thought that it has been that long ago since I had her is amazing. It just doesn't feel like it was that long ago, but obviously it was.


Today Heather is busy hiking Pikes Peak. So I had to do something with a bit of exercise to it too...so I went on a tour to Strasbourg, France. You might as, "What's so great about Strasbourg?" Well, let's see...It is the capital of the Alsace region of France, it is the capital of Europe (well it is)...with the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights. Louis Pasteur taught at the University in Strasbourg. Marie Tussaud (of Madame Tussaud's fame) was born there. Johann Gutenberg (of bible and printing press fame) lived there. Mozart did a lot of composing there. Albert Schweitzer lived there...among other things.


Strasbourg, France is in the French Alsace region. Louis XIV called this region the "beautiful garden." Alsace is known for wine making (Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Riesling...yummy). While most of France produces red wines, Alsace produces whites. Hops are grown in the region and Alsace is the only region in France to brew beer. This is the region famous for Quiche Loraine.


So anyway, this is where I went this weekend. Unlike last weekend, there was plenty of room on the bus. Today's tour was the way a tour should be, or at least how the bus should be...I got the full back row of seats - plenty of room to stretch out. Wish I had taken a pillow, I could have layed down across the back seats and napped on the way to or back. Note to self, take a pillow on these tours.

Remember me talking about the mist in the mornings (last week)? Same thing was true today...see...

 In this next one...look in the back area...that isn't a lake, that is mist.

I thought this was a really cool bridge. Ok looking at it you might be thinking "what's so great about it?" It's a bridge that was built for deer so they wouldn't get on the autobahn and get in accidents.

This morning we stopped outside of Neustadt. It is the largest city on the Rhine Road with 24000 population (that seems a small number to me, but that is how many the tour guide said lived in the town.

The next town on the road was Landau. There actually is someone very important from Laundau, Germany, his name was Thomas Nast. Never heard of him? I bet you have seen some of his work. He is the cartoonist who came up with the elephant and donkey for the political parties in the United States. Impressed? He came up with more....He created the image that we all know as Uncle Sam. Still not quite completely impressed? He also created the image of someone we all know and love...Santa! (he came up with the image that is used world wide and is easily recognized as Santa Clause) 


First views of France (ok, not so easy to see since there was so much mist).

Some pictures of different things in Strasbourg, France

 This is the Palace of Europe

The Ill (pronounced Eel) River

This is a quick picture of part of the Rhine River most of the other river shots are of the Ill River

You think Strasbourg takes this being the Capital of Europe seriously? These are distance markers to other cities within Europe and elsewhere in the world.

 A local specialty: Kougelholpf

This one you would have to click on to get the detail in the wood.

This is the River Ill (pronounced eel)

Our tour guide: Elise. Obviously of good German stock...75 years old and a busy woman.

If you look on this picture...the smaller house (the one by the person standing on the left) is where Louis Pasteur lived while he was teaching in Strasbourg...when he became famous.

 This house is too cool (I think its a house at least there is a business here too but I have no idea what it is since I cant read the language) It sits basically in the middle of the river so its front walkway comes off the bridge. 

 This shows one of the locks on the river. There are two. This one takes boats from a lower level and over about 5 minutes raises the boat up to the level that the water is on the other side of the lock (going into La Petite France).

 This is the Palais du Rhin (palace of the rhine)

Spices in one of the street markets.

 Ah, the market place flowers.

There is a cathedral in Strasbourg which took over 400 years to build. These are a few pictures from it. (Didn't get to climb the tower steps to get a picture from up above because it seemed each time we went in, they were closing for some reason or another...never heard of a church opening and closing so much, but Hey when in France do like the French, so we walked out and went back later). Some may seem doubles, with going in and out, it is quite possible I took a shot of the same thing at different times.

This is a message to the american soldiers 

 this was just a grill in the cathedral that I thought was cool.

I had to kind of chuckle to myself when I saw this person (I think its a woman but I am not positive)...When I first saw this person she (for lack of knowledge) was standing in front of the Cathedral. She wasn't doing anything, but standing. She looked like a statue. She did have a cup for change in front of her. Next thing we knew, the police were hauling her off (I guess they were counting it as begging...although she wasnt a nuisance like some. There were two ladies sitting on the steps of the cathedral begging and when they werent given money one was overheard saying "cheap Americans") At any rate the reason why I chuckled to myself is she reminded me of the mime in Eurotrip.

La Petite France. According to some stories La Petite France came to be because of people having social diseases (blamed on the French) and they went to this area to be cured (not sure if that is true or not, just one of the stories according to one of the tour things).

Egads, could my hair look any worse? yes, I suppose it could. I promised to be in a picture now and then and I had someone offer to take one, and we were all in a rush to not lose the tour guide, so no time to make sure my hair wasn't everywhere...that will teach me.

This is actually a street...believe it or not.

Took this one for Alex, thought he might think it is a cool sign.

From far away someone might think this was something else but up close it is a trompe l'oeil (painting meant to deceive the eye) on the side of the building.  According to the guide this trend came up from Italy.

St Thomas Church

Albert Schweitzer and Mozart used this organ

  This is a casket of a prior Bishop. Thus proving they were either really short during the time or they used an old practice of shortening the dead to fit it fixed size caskets. (this is only about 4.5 ft long.

 Man, oh man, I feel like this sometimes.

 the gears from an old church clock

Pictures from the boat trip on the Ill River (you probably could walk faster than this boat goes, but it gives a different view of the city)

 In the first lock, located near the entrance to the area known as La Petite France

 This was so neat...when a boat goes near the bridge, the bridge rotates out of the way then rotates back into place once the boat has passed.

Long long ago, musicians would sit in this tree to play for people below.

When you are sitting in the lock waiting for the boat to rise water not only enters by passages on the doors to the lock but there are also little filler places on the walls, such as those below.

Some of the lock doors. 

Palais du Rohan

Oh and cant forget...lunch :) Quiche Loraine and some Gewurztraminer (OK, I admit, I had two glasses of wine...but I wasn't driving) at an outdoor cafe

Since I couldn't get good pictures of the Alsace countryside on the way there, I did take a few on the way back. 

 These are hops growing in a field. Hops are only grown in the Alsace region of France and the only beer made in France is also from this region (according to the tour guide).

Well that was my day, hope you enjoyed the pictorial trip with me. Next weekend there are actually two trips, of sorts. A bunch of the teachers are going on a dinner cruise so not sure if I will get any pictures from that, but the next morning (after only a few hours sleep) I will be visiting the Swiss border to include the Island of Mainau, Stein am Rhein, and Schaffhausen Waterfalls. So until then, I hope you have a wonderful week. For me...it just started raining again, so I think I will just relax and listen to the rain.