More On Strasbourg
Listening: Time goes by and people lie, everything goes too fast.
So, when we last left our hero, he was in Strasbourg. He had just gotten a hotel room for thirty five euro and a three course lunch at a Michelin rated restaurant. It was a good afternoon.
Following that wonderous time, I went to the big cathedral in the middle of town, the name of which escapes me at the moment. I bought a Strasbourg pass which for ten euro allowed me up into the top of the tower of the dome, in to see their astronomical clock, a free boat ride on the Ill, a free day's bicycle rental and free entry into a museum.
On that day, I opted to just do the tower of the dome and the astronomical clock. Here are some pics from the top of the dome.
By the time that I had finished with all of that and hopped on the internet for a brief bit of time to upload some pics, it was kind of late, about nine in the evening. Now, the nightlife in Strasbourg isn't really all that fantastic, and I really haven't been partying very much so I just went home and went to sleep early. It's amazing. I'm sleeping so much more since I came on vacation.
The next morning, it was just as picturesque as the first. Steam rising off the river Ill, not burning off until noon. It was gorgeous. I went back over to the Petit France to kill time while I waited for the Museum of Modern Art opened at noon. It was actually hard trying not to stray far from the Museum. Strasbourg is deceptively small, but extraordinarily confusing. If you pay attention to street signs pointing you at different tourist destinations, you will undoubtedly get lost. Your only hope is to pay attention to your map and a compass to figure out what direction you're facing.
Fog Rising Off The River Ill
Inside A Covered Bridge Which I'm Sure Ichabod Crane Met His Maker
Frozen Souls Inside The Bridge
I have to say that the Strasbourg Museum of Modern art is so much smaller yet more interesting than Vienna's. The work there had a little less to do with the Aktion movement and had a lot of variety as far as visual arts go. There was sculpture, painting, collage and the works. I found a number of atrists that I really liked, and wrote down their names on a piece of paper that I have somewhere. I spent a number of hours going through all of the rooms and looking at all of the exhibits. When I go to a museum, I like to be thorough. It was amazing how empty the museum was. There were but a handful of us in there and a lot of the people were looking around much faster than I was. I think that some of the people were college art students or in an art history course. I noticed a bunch of them taking notes. One of them was particularly attractive.
By the time I left the museum, it was maybe a half past one. It was a good hour and a half to go through that museum. From there, I headed back towards the dome. The bicycle shop that I needed to go to was just across the river from the dome and I planned on taking a nice long bikeride through the city to see whatever archetecture was out there. When I got to the bike shop, it said that they were closed from noon to two in the afternoon, so instead of hopping right on a bike, I headed for the boulangerie, or the pastassier.
As I hadn't had much besides a croissant and a cafe creme since I woke up, I was in the mood for something savory. After perusing the pains and the croissants, I ended up going for a mini quiche filled with leeks. Mmmm...
Who Said Real Men Don't Like Quiche?
By the time I finished, it was two o'clock and I was on my waym riding a bike. I have to say that I wasn't the most graceful man on a bike, but what they say is true. You never forget how to ride one. So there I was riding around stopping periodically at my map. There were times when I was riding like my bike was a car, other times when I was riding up on the sidewalk, and sometimes when I was caught in a very small zone between the traffic and the parked cars. It was a bit scary.
Originally, I wanted to head off to the Orangerie which was a big park where I thought, surely, I could just relax and enjoy myself, but I quickly got sidetracked. Just as I hit the Orangerie, I saw the Council of Europe building, also known as EU Headquarters. I was immediately intrigued. So, I locked up my bike and went over to have a look see.
The architecture for all of the EU buildings in Strasbourg are insane. Just a little taste of what they look like...
EU Council Building
EU Court Of Human Rights
The New EU Council Building Built To Accomodate More Representatives
When I went up to the doors of the council, there was security everywhere. There were people going in and being checked in one door for groups and then there were the doors that said "Badges" and "Without Badges." I go over to the door that says "Without Badges" on it and try to open it. It's locked. So I end up talking to this security guy through glass and an intercom. I ask him if they give tours and he said that it was by appointment only. *sigh* Oh well.
From there, I got on my bike and rode around the complex. Eventually, I found myself on a bikepath, that I assumed would take me back towards town, since that's the direction the path seemed to go. How wrong I was. I ended up a few miles outside of Strasbourg in the next town. I felt so dumb. At least there was some great scenery flying by. I rode along the Ill and stopped to watch geese do their geese thing on the water, grooming themselves, diving for food under the water and picking at grass on the banks.
I had rode out about a half hour before I realized that I was out of town, so I turned around and headed back to the EU buildings. Even finding my back into Centre Ville or the center of town was a chore. I couldn't figure out where I was on the mapm because it wasn't detailed enough and I was just turned around. Finally, I figured out which way to go and I got back to the bicycle store. I had the bike until a quarter past six, but I returned it at five. I didn't want to get lost anymore.
Instead, I hopped on a boat tour that was included in my Strasbourg pass. I knew it would be dumb and kitschy, but at least I was getting the value out of my pass. It was an hour and ten minute ride around the island that the center of Strasbourg inhabits and up to the branch of the river where the EU headquarters resides. It was a pretty boring trip to be honest. I had already seen everything and there was an annoying couple behind me, a loud kid to my left and a fourty year old couple making out in front of me. Me? Not pleased. At least it was nice to be in a boat.
Me In The Boat Listening To The Recorded Guide
After the boat tour, I made my way to the winstub that I planned on having dinner at, Fink Stuebl. Fink Stuebl is also in the Michelin guide, so I knew I would be getting decent cuisine, and decent cuisine I got! For an appetizer, I got local fois gras three ways. One was just salted and pressed into a terrine, the next was marinated in pinot noirm and the final was crusted in four kinds of pepper. Around the plate, there was gewertztraminer jelly, which had the consistency of caviar and was just about as salty. I could taste the undertones of grape, but it was mostly salt. It also came with a very sweet preserved choucroute.
Fois Gras Three Ways
The second and final course of the evening was choucroute with traditional accompaniments. Now, when I ordered the fois, I thought it would be much smaller. Truth be told, I could have ordered the fois alone and would have been completely satisfied. But I had already ordered the plat and what was done was done. So this dish is a heaping mound of choucroute with boiled or braised pig shoulder and belly, as well as several sausages and potatoes. It's a big honkin' meal. I wasn't even able to finish it. I made it through half of the meat and about a third of the choucroute. It was a poor showing. But what I did learn was that though I may not like Czech sweet and sour cabbage, I do like choucroute.
Honkin' Mound of Choucroute!
I ended up having an Alscatian wine with the entree and a French beer called Meteor with the plat.
From there, I waddled back to the hotel. It was past ten and I had an eight o'clock train to catch the next morning bound for Paris.
So, when we last left our hero, he was in Strasbourg. He had just gotten a hotel room for thirty five euro and a three course lunch at a Michelin rated restaurant. It was a good afternoon.
Following that wonderous time, I went to the big cathedral in the middle of town, the name of which escapes me at the moment. I bought a Strasbourg pass which for ten euro allowed me up into the top of the tower of the dome, in to see their astronomical clock, a free boat ride on the Ill, a free day's bicycle rental and free entry into a museum.
On that day, I opted to just do the tower of the dome and the astronomical clock. Here are some pics from the top of the dome.
By the time that I had finished with all of that and hopped on the internet for a brief bit of time to upload some pics, it was kind of late, about nine in the evening. Now, the nightlife in Strasbourg isn't really all that fantastic, and I really haven't been partying very much so I just went home and went to sleep early. It's amazing. I'm sleeping so much more since I came on vacation.
The next morning, it was just as picturesque as the first. Steam rising off the river Ill, not burning off until noon. It was gorgeous. I went back over to the Petit France to kill time while I waited for the Museum of Modern Art opened at noon. It was actually hard trying not to stray far from the Museum. Strasbourg is deceptively small, but extraordinarily confusing. If you pay attention to street signs pointing you at different tourist destinations, you will undoubtedly get lost. Your only hope is to pay attention to your map and a compass to figure out what direction you're facing.
Fog Rising Off The River Ill
Inside A Covered Bridge Which I'm Sure Ichabod Crane Met His Maker
Frozen Souls Inside The Bridge
I have to say that the Strasbourg Museum of Modern art is so much smaller yet more interesting than Vienna's. The work there had a little less to do with the Aktion movement and had a lot of variety as far as visual arts go. There was sculpture, painting, collage and the works. I found a number of atrists that I really liked, and wrote down their names on a piece of paper that I have somewhere. I spent a number of hours going through all of the rooms and looking at all of the exhibits. When I go to a museum, I like to be thorough. It was amazing how empty the museum was. There were but a handful of us in there and a lot of the people were looking around much faster than I was. I think that some of the people were college art students or in an art history course. I noticed a bunch of them taking notes. One of them was particularly attractive.
By the time I left the museum, it was maybe a half past one. It was a good hour and a half to go through that museum. From there, I headed back towards the dome. The bicycle shop that I needed to go to was just across the river from the dome and I planned on taking a nice long bikeride through the city to see whatever archetecture was out there. When I got to the bike shop, it said that they were closed from noon to two in the afternoon, so instead of hopping right on a bike, I headed for the boulangerie, or the pastassier.
As I hadn't had much besides a croissant and a cafe creme since I woke up, I was in the mood for something savory. After perusing the pains and the croissants, I ended up going for a mini quiche filled with leeks. Mmmm...
Who Said Real Men Don't Like Quiche?
By the time I finished, it was two o'clock and I was on my waym riding a bike. I have to say that I wasn't the most graceful man on a bike, but what they say is true. You never forget how to ride one. So there I was riding around stopping periodically at my map. There were times when I was riding like my bike was a car, other times when I was riding up on the sidewalk, and sometimes when I was caught in a very small zone between the traffic and the parked cars. It was a bit scary.
Originally, I wanted to head off to the Orangerie which was a big park where I thought, surely, I could just relax and enjoy myself, but I quickly got sidetracked. Just as I hit the Orangerie, I saw the Council of Europe building, also known as EU Headquarters. I was immediately intrigued. So, I locked up my bike and went over to have a look see.
The architecture for all of the EU buildings in Strasbourg are insane. Just a little taste of what they look like...
EU Council Building
EU Court Of Human Rights
The New EU Council Building Built To Accomodate More Representatives
When I went up to the doors of the council, there was security everywhere. There were people going in and being checked in one door for groups and then there were the doors that said "Badges" and "Without Badges." I go over to the door that says "Without Badges" on it and try to open it. It's locked. So I end up talking to this security guy through glass and an intercom. I ask him if they give tours and he said that it was by appointment only. *sigh* Oh well.
From there, I got on my bike and rode around the complex. Eventually, I found myself on a bikepath, that I assumed would take me back towards town, since that's the direction the path seemed to go. How wrong I was. I ended up a few miles outside of Strasbourg in the next town. I felt so dumb. At least there was some great scenery flying by. I rode along the Ill and stopped to watch geese do their geese thing on the water, grooming themselves, diving for food under the water and picking at grass on the banks.
I had rode out about a half hour before I realized that I was out of town, so I turned around and headed back to the EU buildings. Even finding my back into Centre Ville or the center of town was a chore. I couldn't figure out where I was on the mapm because it wasn't detailed enough and I was just turned around. Finally, I figured out which way to go and I got back to the bicycle store. I had the bike until a quarter past six, but I returned it at five. I didn't want to get lost anymore.
Instead, I hopped on a boat tour that was included in my Strasbourg pass. I knew it would be dumb and kitschy, but at least I was getting the value out of my pass. It was an hour and ten minute ride around the island that the center of Strasbourg inhabits and up to the branch of the river where the EU headquarters resides. It was a pretty boring trip to be honest. I had already seen everything and there was an annoying couple behind me, a loud kid to my left and a fourty year old couple making out in front of me. Me? Not pleased. At least it was nice to be in a boat.
Me In The Boat Listening To The Recorded Guide
After the boat tour, I made my way to the winstub that I planned on having dinner at, Fink Stuebl. Fink Stuebl is also in the Michelin guide, so I knew I would be getting decent cuisine, and decent cuisine I got! For an appetizer, I got local fois gras three ways. One was just salted and pressed into a terrine, the next was marinated in pinot noirm and the final was crusted in four kinds of pepper. Around the plate, there was gewertztraminer jelly, which had the consistency of caviar and was just about as salty. I could taste the undertones of grape, but it was mostly salt. It also came with a very sweet preserved choucroute.
Fois Gras Three Ways
The second and final course of the evening was choucroute with traditional accompaniments. Now, when I ordered the fois, I thought it would be much smaller. Truth be told, I could have ordered the fois alone and would have been completely satisfied. But I had already ordered the plat and what was done was done. So this dish is a heaping mound of choucroute with boiled or braised pig shoulder and belly, as well as several sausages and potatoes. It's a big honkin' meal. I wasn't even able to finish it. I made it through half of the meat and about a third of the choucroute. It was a poor showing. But what I did learn was that though I may not like Czech sweet and sour cabbage, I do like choucroute.
Honkin' Mound of Choucroute!
I ended up having an Alscatian wine with the entree and a French beer called Meteor with the plat.
From there, I waddled back to the hotel. It was past ten and I had an eight o'clock train to catch the next morning bound for Paris.
posted by ZEN!!! | 18:27
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