Sunday, January 07, 2007

Strasbourg, Ville de Lumiere

So. I made it! And here are some belated photos of the remaining Christmas lights.
Here you can see the cathedral just behind.
And I love this shockingly bright and blue tree in the middle of Place Gutenberg. In the background you can see a crepe stand, where I bought my first nutella crepe in 2007! Surely as important a milestone as any.

I love Strasbourg, but maybe not so much in winter given the weather and the hyped-up touristy feel to everything. Thanks to the EU and the Christmas market, prices are generally on par with Paris, so it's not like you can eat better and cheaper just because you've escaped Paris. But more on that to come. Right now I'm recovering from a lethal 2 for 1 happy hour-tarte flambee a volonte-combo sort of evening. Ah, Alsace.

tags:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That bright, blue tree is fantastic. Would you mind if I posted it on my site?

I take your point about Strasbourg not being cheap. Sometimes it is worth just going over the border into Germany; surprisingly enough, a lot of things there are cheaper than here in France. I live in the Jura, so it is only a 2-hour trip for me. We buy almost all of our farm equipment in Germany and save a bundle. Also, if one knows where to go, there are great restaurant deals.

Don't get me wrong, I love France. However, in the last 6 years I've found some things (e.g. property) have become a lot more expensive here.

Etienne said...

sure go ahead as long as you give credit and link :)

I've heard the same about Germany when it comes to big purchases (cars), but this weekend in Auchan there were at least as many Germans as French, if not more! And I'm sure there will be many coming for the soldes.

It's just disappointing that Strasbourg is both expensive and very touristy, not what you'd expect to find in the NE so far from Paris. And I'm sure the TGV will make it even worse.