Strasbourg, France

Today we drove 1 1/2 hours to Strasbourg, France. We took a detour through the Black Forest to see a castle but it turned out to be a mile hike through the snowy woods to get there and it was so cold we decided not to. But it was an adventure just getting there! Thank goodness for GPS or we wouldn't have found it. The streets in Baden Baden were Very narrow - only one car at a time. The streets over here in general are narrow; there is no shoulder on most of them. Brad did an excellent job navigating - we had to duck partially off the road once for a garbage truck and a second time we jumped the curb to avoid a city bus. Yikes!

In France they think nothing of parking on the sidewalk. They are all driving micro-mini cars. The lines in the streets, as Nikki said, are more of a 'guideline'. They are not nearly as orderly and rule-following as the Germans! You will find people parked along the sides of the street facing both directions, and some even at an angle with the front wheel up on a curb. However they can get out of traffic to park, they will do it. The people biking and walking are just as bad. It seems like there is stuff coming at you from every direction.

We ate at an italian restaurant in France. Our first waitress didn't speak any English, and she was quick to disappear. The food was what you'd expect, with the exception of the cheese which definitely tasted to me like goat cheese. The lasagna tasted like Chef Boyardee ravioli. Who would've guessed it's actually very close to the way they have their sauce over here?


The buildings are a lot more colorful than in Germany. In France, they have pinks, yellows, and oranges and most buildings have the exposed timber construction. In Germany houses are almost always white or tan concrete or stucco with a brick red or brown metal roof. Very occasionally you will see a wildly colored pink or blue house. We saw lots of architecture design through the years from the boat ride tour we took. The boat was warm and had a glass roof. That was a good thing because it was so cold! It was about 5 degrees F with the windchill. We were all very cold and it gave us a chance to warm up completely.




After the boat tour we walked over to the Strasbourg Cathedral. The Cathedral was constructed beginning over 900 years ago. Amazing stuff there. The stained glass windows are still original from the 13th and 14th centuries, and is really beautiful. We lit candles for Brad's dad and my brother when we were there. Here is a link if you want more info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg_Cathedral




After that we walked around looking at the shops and buying a few souvenirs. The streets there are all cobblestone, which I thought was cool. They are not very well marked though; you can easily step into traffic or in front of a train and not know you have done it (no curbs, no lines, nothing).

On the way home, Mark finally saw some wildlife out the window. He saw 7 German deer out the window to go with the European hare he saw yesterday. He says the hare was nearly the same size as the deer!

Another fantastic adventure! We are all tired and ready to relax.