Day 7 – Strasbourg – Thursday September 26

We docked at Kehl, Germany and boarded buses to cross the Rhine River to visit Strasbourg, France. There was a light drizzle that later turned in to rain.

This is the capital of the Alsace region of France. Strasbourg was founded by Romans and in 1988 celebrated its 2000 anniversary. It is a large college town with 69,000 students out of the 290,000 inhabitants. The town has been passed back and forth between France and Germany, In 1681 it was French, then in 1871 it was German. WWI brought it back to the French, but WWII it was captured by Germany. After the war it belonged to France again.

Our guide didn't mention him, but the plaque says Chevalier Liebenzella and mentions
"libre de Strasbourg" in 1262 - No doubt he has something to do with liberating the town

Carousel in main square

As most towns in the area it has a grand cathedral called Notre Dame (Our Lady). This cathedral houses a large Astronomical Clock. It measures 70 meters tall and is over 500 years old. It is referred to as the Copernicus Clock. To keep the clock working properly it has to wound up every Monday. Our guide did a great job explaining the different characters, angels and bells on the clock. We were there to watch and hear it strike on the quarter of the hour. There is only one other clock like it in the world and it is in Praque.

They were able to save the beautiful stained glass windows during the war by removing them and storing them in the country.
After the war they were reinstalled in the Cathedral.

Astronomical Clock

Look closely in the middle at the skeleton, he would ring the bell as the characters passed

Large carved stone statues

As we walked along the streets our guide pointed out a statue of Albert Schweitzer. He played piano at the church is was looking at.

Our guide walked us through the winding cobblestone paths that shops and cafes. I noticed that there were a lot of white birds with long noses represented on the shops and stuffed birds for sale at the shops. When asked, the guide explained that the White Stork nests in the Alsace region. I remember that the day that we left Amsterdam I saw several of these large white storks in the field along the canal.

These were animated storks, flapping their wings.
notice all the stuffed storks for sale in the racks below

Large White Storks that I saw on the canal. They are probably 4 feet tall

We had been walking through the Le Petite France. This is older area of Strasbourg that is surrounded by the L’ll River. There are canal boats that circle the area and it is necessary for them to go through locks. We walked along the canal.

Canal boat going through a lock

Walking along canal, a tunnel going under bridge

Nan and Steve posing in German outfits

We found our way back to the Cathedral to went in to a couple of shops. We asked about a place to eat and the shopkeeper suggested we eat at the Dauphin (the Dolphin). It did not disappoint. It appeared that this was a local restaurant, the waiter did speak English but asked us to speak slowly. The food was very good.