I got up early Saturday to move the car out of its illegal spot. I found a street, Rue de Stutzheim, less than a half mile away where two cars were parked fully up on the sidewalk. That was a sign that parking was probably legal there. It’s also amusing to be parked on a street name with both French “Rue de” and German “Stutzheim.”
We certainly heard a lot of both languages as we wandered around both Strasbourg and Colmar.
Anyhow, I had the inspiration to google “grocery stores near me” and found a small Carrefour shop not far away. So I did a quick shop so we could have eggs, yogurt, and bread for breakfast, along with various other sundries.
After Carol made breakfast, we were waiting for our guide for the morning, Julia Fischer, to come to the apartment front door so we have a second tour on the trip – this time of Strasbourg. I realized with rain in the forecast that I needed to go get the umbrellas out of the car (didn’t realize they were there), so I rushed off to get it. All total, I had 2.25 miles of walking before we even started the tour.
I was a few minutes late getting back, but our Julia went out to greet Julia the tour guide so it wasn’t a problem.
We walked to the tram, which turned out to be somewhat problematic. There was a transit strike that day, so trams were running just half-time (full speed, but only one out every scheduled two). Julia (the tour guide) thoughtfully purchased us a 24 hour tram pass.
Anyhow, we trammed in from Rotonde to the Homme de Fer stop right on the Grand Ile de Strasbourg. Julia commenced to lead us on a tour all over the island, and even off of it. Strasbourg really lives up to its reputation, and Julia covered a lot of ground and a lot of topics.
She told us about local military heroes, Messieurs Kleber and Broglio. Kleber was a successful general for Napoleon, albeit it too successful. The little general was jealous of Kleber’s battlefield fame, and moved him to Egypt. Kleber remained successful, Napoleon remained jealous, so Napoleon sent assassins to kill him. If your goal is to win wars, that move seems counterproductive.
One of the things we really enjoyed about Julia’s tour was that she pointed out shops that sold foods popular with Strasbourgians, especially around Christmas time. Those items include Kugelhof (I later bought one for us to share – tasted much better than I expected), gingerbread (Carol bought some for us – also tasty), and other goodies. I wanted to try them all, but we didn’t have the time nor the appetite!
She also took us off island to the UNESCO World Heritage site that is the Place de La Republic. It earned the distinction because, well, I'm not really sure why. Faithful readers of the blog know I’m huge fan of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
(Editor’s Note: Yes, Glen, we know “UNESCO means You Must Go.” Writer: Well, you didn’t have to slump your shoulders and sigh about it!).
But that was the least impressive UNESCO site I’ve seen. To be fair, we did not go into the buildings; perhaps they are more interesting.
Then Julia wound us back through the isle, pointing out various buildings and sights, including Gutenberg Plaza (the inventor of the printing press lived in Strasbourg for xx years). She then took us past a stinky Munster cheese shop and over to Petite France, a beautiful area. Oh, why am I describing this to you. . .just go to Strasbourg!
The 2.5 hours flew by. We hired Julia through Tours by Locals. Those tours are always worth the time and money.
After we finished, Carol, daughter Julia, and I found a place for lunch. We rested. I connected tour guide Julia and asked for the name of a shop where Carol had looked longingly at a beautiful pottery Dutch oven. I went and bought it as a Christmas gift, and then some cheese as well.
(Editor’s Note: What, no spoiler alert to Carol? Writer: She know basically what I got her, she just won’t know the design till Christmas morning, because it is heavily bubble wrapped! She’s been fretting getting it back home safely. Fingers crossed.)
We met back at the tram station, crammed onto the tram. By the way, the Christmas markets are open air. The tram is not. If there is a huge outbreak of COVID in Strasbourg, odds are the striking transit workers are to blame, as people are jammed in next to each other. Everyone wears masks, but yikes!
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