OUR FIRST DAY IN STRASBOURG

After a great nights sleep in our teeny tiny Parisian hotel (upgraded, ha!)  we got an early start to our day.  We enjoyed a teeny, tiny cup of coffee in our room, then checked out and walked just across the street to Gare d'Est.  It's a big train station, with several nice shops and restaurants.   We chose a small place for breakfast--the European usual:  Espresso and a pastry.  We relaxed for quite awhile, because as always, we were early!

We headed to the main hall, and watched the departure board for our train to be listed.  It was less than 10 minutes before departure, and still no platform listed.  I asked at an information booth--and the nice gentleman casually told me it was platform 4.  Yikes--it was a hike down there, and we boarded the train with not much time to spare.  Whew!

It was about a 2 1/2 hour ride to Strasbourg--smooth and uneventful.  We traveled through mostly flat farmland, not much to see because it was very foggy. We read for awhile, and even snoozed a bit.  After lugging our suitcases off the train we found a nice cafe to wile away an hour or so--we had a 12:15 appointment to check into our apartment.  We sipped on a vin chaud--it was c-o-l-d in there!  After we warmed up, we headed for the taxi stand.

Our apartment is in the "old" part of Strasbourg called Petit France.  It's very charming, with narrow winding streets and timbered buildings.

Our "home" for the next week is on a VERY narrow pedestrian only side street, we're down at the end on the right:

We were warmly welcomed by Jules, the nice owner, and he showed us how everything works, etc.  He even left us a bottle of local sparkling wine--which we will enjoy soon.  They also furnish a few basics such as juice and milk, butter and jam, and a big bowl of fresh fruit--how nice!

What a find this place is!  We are really happy with it, and the location is perfect.

Nice kitchen and dining area:

 Living room:

I want to take this pretty red chair and the amoire home with me!

Pretty view onto the street from our living room windows:

Bedroom:

And a nice shower/bathroom, including a washer/dryer.  I love the old stone wall and wooden beams

We quickly unpacked and organized our "stuff" and then took care of some quick grocery shopping for breakfast items.  Luckily, there's three small grocers within about a block--very handy.

Now that we were all organized and stocked up for the week we were anxious to get out and explore!

We found a couple of small Christmas markets very close by and enjoyed looking at the variety of goods.  We've even bought a Christmas ornament already.

Storks are common in this area, and in nesting season one can see the huge nests around town.  There are stork themed items everywhere--so we thought this would be a good souvenir:

This area of town is just beautiful.  Here are a few streets right around our apartment:

This is Le Grand Rue--the main pedestrian only street.  Our narrow little lane is just off this Rue:

One of the canals running through Petit France, this one is about a block from our apartment:

Christmas is a BIG DEAL here in Strasbourg--every place is decked out in their Christmas finest. This  nice restaurant is right below our living room window:

 

After a couple of hours of wandering and shopping we were ready for a late lunch, and settled on a small place right around the corner from our apartment.  Very Alsatian--we each had the choucroute.  It was a big plate of delicious sauerkraut with potatoes, a variety of sausages and some smoked pork.  it was a VERY big plate--I barely ate half of it.  Too bad they don't do "doggie bags" in France, as I would have had the rest for breakfast!

By now it was late afternoon, the sun was going down and it was definitely cooling off.  We made the short walk back "home", relaxed for an hour or so, and then layered up with our warmest clothes.  We were off to the big market in Cathedral Square, and I purposely waited until just after dark to see it all lit up.  I wasn't disappointed--the streets and squares are beautiful!

A huge Christmas tree in one of the squares near the cathedral:

Some of the store fronts:

This was my favorite--Santa and his sleigh, pulled by eight Canada geese:

After several twists and turns (we call this "taking the scenic route", which basically means we got lost!) we finally found Cathedral Square.  WOW--the Cathedral is amazing! It's huge, and impossible to  get a photo of the whole building. Here's the best angle I could get:

We wandered around the market, enjoying a hot wine and some roasted chestnuts, looking at all the goods and goodies for sale.  Didn't buy a thing, and I forgot to take pictures of the market!  Oh well--we'll be back another day.  We are anxious to see the Cathedral during the day, and definitely plan on a visit to the inside.

It was a long walk back home, we looked along the way for a small place for a quick bite of dinner.  Didn't see anything that suited us, so we decided on a mug of hot soup and crackers at our apartment--just right!

We are tired, our feet are sore, but we are loving Strasbourg.  Can't wait to explore some more!

Good night from beautiful Strasbourg--sure wish we could share our sparkling wine with you all!