Day 67 - The Sights of Slightly Soggy Strasbourg

Whilst the rain was nothing compared to that at Lake Bled, today was the first day of the trip that has felt truly autumnal - i.e. it has been rather chilly. I even considered wearing my IFK Gothenburg scarf for my day of sightseeing.

My first stop of the day was a cafe for breakfast - a yummy raisin escargot (to clarify for Dad, this is not an actual snail - it is a pain aux raisins, which looks like a snail 🐌) and tea. I then pottered further into the city centre, doing some of the MANY AdLabs in the city, having a look in various shops, and generally getting my bearings.

As I approached the cathedral - the tourist centre of the city, it seems - I set my eyes on ‘The Little Train of Strasbourg’. Not only was it a little train, which regular readers of the blog will know I love due to mum’s inexplicable love of them, but it also had a roof! It was a no-brainer to ride the train around the ‘Little France’ area of the city - so-called, apparently, because of the hospital there that treated soldiers with syphilis (‘the French disease’) in the fifteenth century. It is a very picturesque area, even in the rain, although said rain did prevent me from taking any good photos. The little train also gave me lots of interesting history of the city - being on the French/German border, it hasn’t been short on action!

The little train dropped me back at the cathedral, and I popped into the hugely impressive building. Confusingly, it is called Notre Dame. Whilst I saw no hunchback, I was blown away by the scale of the cathedral, and the gorgeous stained glass windows. The photos here do not do it justice. I’ve been into quite a few churches and cathedrals on this trip, and this one is definitely one of the most spectacular.

Upon leaving the cathedral I headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I decided to go all in with Steak frites and it was an excellent decision - one of my top meals of the trip. The peppercorn sauce was delicious.

It also gave me the energy to then return to the cathedral to climb the 330 steps of the tower. As we know, I do like a church tower. It was really windy as I climbed but actually an easier climb than others, and the views at the top were great. There was also an interesting exhibit in the Guards’ room about how the guards were based up there on shift and would raise the alarm in case of fire, for example.

I headed back down and then used AdLabs to guide me on more of a walking tour of the city, ultimately returning to Little France for the photos I didn’t take this morning.

It was then back to the hotel for a nap before popping out to the shops to get a small sandwich and drink for this evening.

I have very much enjoyed my day in Strasbourg. I would have liked to have made the walk to the European Parliament, but didn’t really have the time as there was so much to see in the centre. Maybe one for another trip!

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