Rest Day in Strasbourg

We really needed a break today, after lots of travelling, and the wonderful but emotionally intense experience of the WWI battlefields.

So we slept in, did some puzzles and a bit of doomscrolling, and then had a leisurely breakfast.

We felt like a walk, so wandered down to the shops, and in particular Galeries Lafayette, a favourite of Des’s since our 40th wedding anniversary tour of France in 2010.

Very warm, and getting warmer - forecast top temperature today 33 degrees C. So we indulged in a sorbet stop. Des had “fruits de passion”, and I had “Citron Basilique”, a blend of lemon & basil I had never thought of.

We thought we would revisit the Strasbourg Cathedral (got to keep up our Église du Jour!), but by the time we got there the church was shut for lunch.

Much to Des’s delight, a tourist train was just loading for a tour of the Petit France, the old and picturesque tradesmen’s quarter. We paid the money, got installed with two others in a seat big enough for three (we arranged to breathe alternately) and waited for the driver to finish cleaning his nails.

We set off on the adventure, picturesque with cobblestones and not much in the way of springs. I took a few pictures, but usually there was a large blue straw hat or the carriage roof in the way.

My best pictures were of the medieval towers by the river (apparently used more recently as prisons!)

Back outside the Cathedral we struggled to get adult bodies out the kiddie doors, and Des remarked “Wasn’t that great!”

I took a picture of her by the engine.

The church was still lunching, so we took up the idea, and retired to a nearby cafe we enjoyed last year, Café de l’ill. We had their Plat du Jour, delicious pork ribs, followed by scoops of praline, and pineapple ice cream and an espresso. Magic.

By now the Cathedral was open to visitors, and it was just as amazing on our second visit. I took photos that don’t do justice to the overwhelming size of the church, and the stunning complexity of the stained glass pictures in every window.

It was nearly two o’clock, so I went and took a video of the astronomical clock striking the hour.

Hugging the shade we headed for our apartment, but on the way we stopped to buy some snacks for our Alsace day trip tomorrow, plus a light dinner for tonight.

A great Rest Day!!

While I was writing this, I looked again at Des’s wonderful video outside the church, and realised it shows the terrific day here in Strasbourg. We have been so lucky with the weather so far on this holiday. We have had no rain worth the mention. Fingers crossed for next week!!Read more