It’s early in the morning and I’ve just seen Matt off to the United States. I’m on my way back to Paris, but I decided to stop in Strasbourg (on the border of Germany and France) on my way back. I get off the train and store my luggage. The town is
still asleep but I decide to walk around before breakfast. Strasbourg is broken up into Petite France (French Quarter) and the Centre Ville. I started by walking through the canals of the French Quarter and into the Historic district. I saw some boat tours and small houses and restaurants lining the canals. Tourists were packing up and heading to the airports in little cars. It wasn’t too cold but I headed inside for chocolat chaud . In the center of Strasbourg is a giant cathedral. It tours over every other building in the town. Honestly, I’ve seen my fill of cathedrals in Europe but I stopped by the farmers market and picked up a hot pretzels. Strasbourg was one of my favorite places because you can get a hot pretzel and crepe within 3 feet of one another. I also stumbled upon Leonidas, a chocolatiers name that I recognized. I picked up a bag for the train ride home.
I had only killed about half the day so I decided to walk to the northern edge of town to the park. If I had continued north, I would have crossed into Germany again. Instead I found an interesting site in the park—a zoo. An actual zoo, filled with flamingos, small animals, and a flamingo. I think Strasbourg is the only place where I could see flamingos standing in the snow.
As I headed back to the train station, I stopped at a canal-side café for lunch before heading home to dinner in Paris. I would miss the hot pretzels and Matt but I was glad to get out of the cold weather and strange language. Au Revior Germany, Bienvenue a Paris!
