Fully rested and off to our next adventure, Strasbourg, France. This little town located on the River Ill (that’s ill) is the second most visited city in France (Paris is first). Strasbourg has a crazy history. in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, it became part of Germany. After that, there was a period of harsh Germanization, followed by extreme Frenchification after World War I, and a brutal period under Nazi rule during World War II.

In 840 AD, on the death of Louis the Pious, the great Frankish “Holy Roman” Empire was split into three parts. West Francia in the west became the heartland of modern France. East Francia in the east became Germany; and between them was Middle Francia – an area today made up of Luxembourg, Belgium, the Nether­lands, and Switzerland. Between Luxembourg and Switzerland middle Francia included the duchies of Alsace, Lorraine and Burgundy, which are today part of France.

Alsace, and with it Strasbourg, was French from 1648 to 1871, but during this time it remained German- speaking. From 1871 until 1919, and again from 1940 to 1944, Alsace was annexed by Germany. After WW2, there was a strong need to purge all that was German. Now Alsace, and Strasbourg, are more French than they have ever been.

A unique feature of Strasbourg is that it is an island. Strasbourg is completely surrounded by the River Ill. Adding to this uniqueness is the 12^th century cathedral, Cathedral Notre-Dame de Strasbourg. (BTW- Notre-Dame translates to “Our Lady”). Construction of this Gothic cathedral began in 1176 but didn’t finish until 1439. The spire stands 466’ tall (tallest building in the world until 1880). The entire structure is made from pink sandstone but somehow has not weathered or eroded like many sandstone structures from ancient times.

More on that later. Right now we’re checking into our apartment in Strasbourg Old Town. The apartment is located in the pedestrian district so no cars allowed. This means hoofing it with our bags and suitcases. Since this is a very popular tourist town, there is no shortage of restaurants, and bars so food and drink will not be an issue. Getting through the crowds with baggage, that’s a little tougher, but I’m sure Collette will do just fine.

The apartment

Our apartment is the white half-timbered building on the right

Our view

Our biggest challenge is backing the car into the assigned parking spot, but having parking in this town, is a premium perk. Up 6 floors in what appears to be an apartment building, the parking garage is tighter than Momma June’s yoga pants. The Gods must have been watching because I stopped the car less than 1” from a concrete overhang that would have shattered the rear window. I need a drink!

We’re going to do our writing differently in this town since we will be visiting the same sights on different days. We’ll see how that works.

Au revoir  (Pics around town)

It’s beginning to look like Christmas…