Grandma and Grandpa returned yesterday from their Finland trip where they visited with family and did some sightseeing. We gave them a little time to rest, but it was off today on our three-day trip to see some new areas of France and Germany. Grandma and Grandpa have been many places in the world, but never France.
We got a late start, though, when we showed up at the car rental office in the middle of the city to pick up our van (so we could all ride together) and they didn't have the van we reserved there. I don't think the agent would have gotten it if we had quoted Jerry Seinfeld to her:
Jerry: I don't understand. Do you have my reservation?
Rental Car Agent: We have your reservation, we just ran out of cars.
Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation.
Rental Car Agent: I think I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don't think you do. You see, you know how to
take the reservation, you just don't know how to
hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.
We lost almost two hours driving to the other side of Frankfurt to pick up another van at a different location, but in the end, we got the van we needed. Then it was a two-hour drive to Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of France. We didn't have time to plan out this trip, so we just went with the flow and it did take us a while to figure out what exactly we were going to and where we were going to stay.
The kids enjoyed the songs of this music box as we made our way to the cathedral.
You're wandering through the old part of Strasbourg, admiring the old buildings, picking up some French-language Harry Potter books at a stand, turn a corner and then, to quote Emeril LaGasse, BAM! A huge, beautiful 15th century cathedral suddenly comes into view.
Here at the cathedral, we boarded a tram to tour the old part of the city which helped us figure out what part of town to visit on foot. It poured during out tram ride, but the great part of that was that when we were dropped back off at the cathedral, the gargoyles were doing their thing.
The sun came back and the rain stopped in time for our leisurely walk, which started at the cathedral. Strasbourg Cathedral which began undergoing construction in the 12th century, was completed in 1439 (though only the north tower was built) and became the World's Tallest Building (until 1874), surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza. A few years later, Johannes Gutenberg created the first European moveable type printing press here.
The Maison Kammerzell, an ornate and well preserved medieval building located in the cathedral square, is one of the most famous buildings of Strasbourg.
The cathedral was situated so close to other building, that getting a good shot of it was difficult.
Double-decker merry-go-round
There were only a few spots taken on the whole merry-go-round, but these French kids insisted on riding on this spinning do-hickey with Micaela, James and Emilie.
Lovely bakery sign
Grandma and Grandpa posing in front of la Maison des Tanneurs in the charming Petite-France section of town.
The name "Petite-France" was conferred by the former German inhabitants because of the numerous prostitutes working there in the Middle Ages — prostitution used to be known in Germany as "the French business".
A quiet moment near the Barrage Vauban, a defensive dam built on the river Ill in the seventeeth century.
Two of the four defensive towers that help make up the the medieval bridge Ponts Couverts (Covered Bridges) spanning the Ill.
We weren't sure if they were playing pétanque or boule lyonnaise
"You are the sunshine of my life...."
This playground was full of wooden sculptures to climb and sit on.
In this pose, Micaela reminded me of Manet's famous (and controversial)
Olympia.
We enjoyed the mix of French and German cultures here and now understand why so many people put Strasbourg at the top of their "Not to be missed" list.
The Black Forest region is blessed with a particularly rich mythological landscape. It is said to be haunted by werewolves, sorcerers, witches and the devil in differing guises. Helpful dwarves try to balance the scales. They must have all been napping when we were there.
The Adlerschanze ski-jump was built in 1924 here in Hinterzarten. The cool weather today (probably in the 50s) and a little bit of shivering made it a bit easier to picture this area covered in snow.
The last stop on our trip was the town of Triberg im Schwarzwald (Triberg in the Black Forest). This area is known for wood-carving, in particular cuckoo clocks. The selection in this store was mind-boggling. We hope someday to buy an authentic German cuckoo clock, but couldn't come close to making a decision today.
We visited a folk museum that has Europe's largest barrel organ collection.
Emilie liked this lady's hat which could be a variation of the traditional Bollenhut. Bollenhut usually have enormous red pompoms (if you're unmarried, black if you are) and is the hat that many female figurines wear on cuckoo clocks.
Thank goodness the clocks were all set to different times in the museum, so that we didn't have to wait 50 minutes to see a cuckoo.
One item at the museum where we didn't need to say, "No touch!"
Triberg is also famous for its waterfalls. The brochure claimed that these falls are the tallest in Germany, but my research has shown them to be the second tallest.
You can buy peanuts here to feed the squirrels. This was the only squirrel we found to feed. Squirrels in Germany are usually red.
Leaving Triberg, we happened upon the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock. This is not it. We thought it was. The actual Cuckoo Clock was on the other side of the building. Check out the pompoms on the ladies' hats.
This is the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock.
