Ponts Couverts in Strasbourg's old town ()
Just over 2 hours from the KMC area, with a city center only 2.5 miles from the German border, is the French city of Strasbourg. Filled with shops, museums, stuffed storks and a great blending of French and German culture that results in delicious regional fare, Strasbourg is a great place to escape for a weekend away.
We began Saturday by going to the Historical Museum of the City of Strasbourg where my spouse excitedly got to try on not one, but two, different knight helmets. At the museum, you travel through time from Strasbourg’s earliest days as a free city in the Roman Empire to the modern era. Throughout history, Strasbourg changed hands between the Empire, Prussia, Germany and France and those influences can still be seen in the city today.
For lunch, we munched on the Alsatian treat of flammkuchen or tarte flambée (depending on the menu) and an assortment of Alsatian cheeses and bread. After fueling up, we made our way to the Alsace Museum which is a house museum where an English audio guide took us through a house museum styled in the way of an 1800s Alsatian house and learned all about the Jewish, Protestant and Catholic influences of the area.
We then found ourselves in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Not the one in Paris, but rather, the one in the city center of Strasbourg. This towering building was the tallest in the world until the 1800s. Inside the cathedral, one can marvel at the beautiful stained glass that adorn the structure.
We stumbled upon an outdoor market in the city center where unfortunately the merchant didn’t speak English. But when he looked at us and went, “Deutsch?” I breathed a sigh of relief and said “ein bisschen” and we were able to pay for our finds using our limited knowledge of German numbers.
Our last stop before dinner was the Christmas store, Un Noël en Alsace, where it is Christmas every day of the year. Pick up a bell or stork, the symbol of Alsace, as a memorable ornament for your tree. They also sell magnets, key chains, and stuffed storks and other animals.
For dinner, I kept things simple with some Alsatian cheese and bread, still kind-of full from lunch and anticipating dessert. However, my spouse went a little more adventurous and got a pasta dish with escargot…yep…snails. I avoided trying snails the first time I went to France, but here they were, literally in front of me and, well, you only live once. I took a sauce-covered snail off of his plate, put it in my mouth, and chewed. And chewed some more. Curious. I must say that I didn’t care for the texture or the flavor of snails, but now I can knock that one off my bucket list. I enjoyed the chocolate mousse that followed dinner much more.
All filled up on too much food and mousse, we walked around the Le Petite France region at night and saw beautiful architecture crowned with lights before heading back to the hotel.
On Sunday, we spent the morning taking advantage of the fact that on the first Sunday of every month, the museums in the city center are free and went to the Œuvre Notre-Dame Museum and the Palais Rohan museum. At the Notre Dame museum, we marveled at more stained glass and artifacts. At the Palais Rohan, we toured the magnificent residence and got to see rooms where Napoleon slept and different eras of artwork. We then ate a quick lunch and decided to venture outside of the city center.
Our first stop was about a thirty-minute walk outside of the city center, Citadel Park. Originally used as fortification against enemy forces in the Roman Empire, it now houses beautiful walking paths, park areas and the occasional gelato truck. From there, we walked along the water for another thirty minutes or so to get to Orangerie Park. On our walk along the water, we had the pleasure of spotting a native nutria (not a weirdly shaped otter or beaver like we first thought).
The Orangerie Park is a place where one can spend an entire day. There are places to eat on site, fountains, the Joséphine Lodge, gardens and a zoo. This is the park where the Alsatian symbol, the stork, was reintroduced after almost being extinct. With only a couple of hours before closing, we mostly stayed on the central walking path reminding ourselves that we will definitely have to go back one day.
After walking for so long we decided to head back to the city center for one more Alsatian dinner: Baeckeoffe at Le Baeckeoffe d'Alsace. This delectable stew comes in a ceramic dish with a separate plate so you can share with whomever you’re with. The traditional stews consist of pork, beef, lamb and pig's trotter. I chose the variation that came with duck leg and my spouse chose to get pork and muenster cheese. You would think after all that, I’d be full, but I magically found room for Crème Brulee…and then an authentic pistachio éclair from a bakery on our walk back to the hotel room.
Strasbourg has something for everyone to enjoy, with great food, historic sites and tons of shopping opportunities.
