Strasbourg 8/22/09

On Saturday, I took the train to Strasbourg with Phil and Shaheen. We hustled from the bus to the ticket counter in Metz, then made our way to the 9:00 TER train to Strasbourg. A bit slower, than the TGV, and with a slightly bumpier ride, the TER made its way to the Alsatian capital in an hour and forty minutes. We stopped at the tourism counter in the Gare de Strasbourg. The tourism representative suggested the water-bus tour so we made our way to the Ill river, pausing briefly to gawk at the lofty Notre Dame de Strasbourg Cathedrale.

La Gare de Strasbourg

La Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg

(all the cathedral pictures are of this church)

All told we spent around an hour in line for the tickets to the water-bus, and then for the bus itself, but it was well worth it, especially for the uncovered boat. The covered version looked like

a greenhouse and, as Phil reminded us, would mess up any photos.

The Water-Bus

Strasbourg is the offical site of the European Union Parliament. This is the Louise Weiss building where the officials hold plenary sessions.

Opposite side of Louise Weiss building

The former customs house.

A covered bridge

All around were beautiful half-timber homes and businesses.

The highlight of the boat trip was travelling through two locks. A lock is a system that moves a boat upriver, where a boat enters a gated area of water into which more water is pumped, raising the water level, and then the boat exits the other side of the tank, having moved up several feet. The Panama Canal is one example of a system of locks. Once on land, we returned to inspect closer and appreciate the simple system.

These lock gates were held together by the water pressure on the high side. Two trap doors open below the water line to let water from high to low to equalize water height.

Entering the Lock

After the boat tour, we immediately got in line to climb the cathedral stairs. Here are some photos from the climb and from the platform just below the steeple.

Me atop the Cathédrale

View from the Stairs

Steeple seen from the platform


At the base of the chapel, we were attacked playfully by some screaming French children - I just screamed back at them. We then went inside the cathedral, took some more pictures, and threw some coins in an impressive change vault beneath a grating in the floor.

We wandered a bit, inspected a lock, and then paused for a beer at the Academie de la Bière. The server showed us no respect, but the Tarte Flambée- a flaky crust with cheese and toppings vaguely resembling pizza -was decent.

We left the Academie behind and checked out a covered bridge before returning to the Gare to catch a train and some rest on the return trip to Metz.

View from the center of Strasbourg