Once I got back from Paris, I had a day to catch up on homework, and then my group left Monday morning for Strasbourg, aka the Capital of Christmas (I didn’t make that up). We arrived in the city in the afternoon with about an hour to kill before our walking tour. We headed straight to the famous Christmas markets to scope out future purchases, only after beelining it to the stands with vin chaud (mulled wine) and beignet bretzels (donut pretzels).
 |
| Petite France |
We then met up with our guide at the Office of Tourism for our walking tour around the town. Because it’s located in the region of Alsace, Strasbourg’s history is marked by war. The region traded hands between France and Germany several times, giving it a confused French/German identity. It was also bombed quite a bit (by the Americans) during World War II, so a lot of it had to be rebuilt, but they kept the original style. In addition to being the Capital of Christmas, Strasbourg is the seat of the European Parliament, which, in a way, symbolizes France and Germany’s strong friendship now. Our tour took us through the center of town, Petite France, and l’Église St. Thomas, which has an organ that Mozart himself played.
Unfortunately, it rained throughout the entire walking tour, so at the end, we ducked into a café for a quick hot chocolate while we waited for our bus to take us to the hotel. After we refreshed at the hotel, we all took taxis to the restaurant for dinner, where I ordered an unidentifiable meat that turned out to be pork. I decided I would try to be adventurous in choosing my meals and attempt to eat all regional specialties.
 |
| l'Horloge Astronomique |
 |
| cathedral interior |
Tuesday started with a tour of the cathedral, which managed to survive the wars. It houses l’Horloge Astronomique, or the Astronomical Clock, that dates from 1843 and still functions perfectly, even though it operates 30 minutes behind. Next, we got on a boat tour (thankfully it was covered and heated) that took us around the island holding the center of town. It was cool to see the city from another point of view, and we got to see some of the European government buildings. After our tours, we went to lunch at a restaurant/brewery, and I continued my quest to eat local foods by ordering flammekueche. Flammekueche or tarte flambée is kind of like a pizza with a very thin, cracker-like crust covered with crème fraîche, onions, cheese, and bacon, and I added mushrooms to mine. It was pretty delicious.
 |
| boat tour |
 |
| Marche de Noel |
Our itinerary left the rest of the afternoon free, so I wandered around the Christmas markets with some other kids in the group. I bought a couple of ornaments and some Christmas cookies for my host family, but we went back to the hotel after only a couple of hours since it had started raining again, and we were all freezing. After a much needed nap, we went to dinner, and I ordered my most adventurous meal yet: choucroute. Choucroute is essentially sauerkraut and various types of meat (including sausages, a hot dog, and pork) together in a big dish. I was afraid I wouldn’t like it, but it was actually really tasty. Dishes like this one make the German influence pretty obvious.
 |
| Kayserburg |
Wednesday morning, we left Strasbourg, but on our way back to Dijon, we stopped in the picturesque town of Kayserburg. This town also had a Christmas market, but we got there at lunch time and almost every store was closed. There was nothing else to do except walk around a little and eat lunch. We landed in a restaurant where I ordered another flammekueche, and by the time we finished eating, the shops had opened. I did pretty well at the Strasbourg Christmas markets, so I didn’t buy anything, but the town was adorable and all decorated, so it was fun to wander around.
We got back to Dijon in the early evening and had some time to go home and put our luggage away (I just went to my friend Caroline’s since my house is further away) before we had our last big group dinner. We ate at Le Grand Café in Centre Ville, and it was a fun dinner, probably because everyone was more relaxed and excited about going home. We were all a little sad to think that our adventures abroad were coming to an end.
No comments:
Post a Comment