Strasbourg

After an early breakfast, I went to Les Halles and bought bottles of wine for presents, and took them back to my room so that I wouldn't have to get to a shop before closing time, or have to buy wine the next day carrying a backpack.

My friend, also a B, arrived on schedule at the station. We got her a day pass for the trams and proceeded to explore the city centre. Line A runs through the city and Strasbourg commissioned Oulipo to create text for tramway stops. These texts purport to be historical background, but are fanciful stories. For example the one at Langstross (Long Street) reads: LANGSTROSS (Berthe) , artiste de cirque (1907-1960). - Amie de Grock, elle se spécialisa dans des numéros spectaculaires: manger intégralement une bicyclette en deux jours, un wagon de tram en cinq. Elle mourut en tentant de dévorer la Grosse Bertha. Quatre qualificatifs la désignaient: lente, grosse, grande, drue. In brief, this claimed that the stop was named after Berthe Langstross, a circus artist who ate a bicycle in two days, a tram carriage in five and died trying to eat the Big Bertha. No doubt these fables have bewildered many a tourist, albeit only those who comprehend French. The complete collection of the made up stories is found at this page (in French).

B is an art historian so she gave me a detailed explication of the symbolism of the elements of Strasbourg Cathedral. Unfortunately I have a mind like a sieve where it comes to art and I only remember that the interior was impressionant.

There was a small number of worshipers and visitors there.

The exterior of the cathedral, with the astronomical clock.

We had some strawberries by the river in lieu of lunch and then visited the Musée des Beaux-arts at the Palais Rohan. This is a picture taken out of one of its windows.

This is the Petite-France area of Strasbourg which has many medieval half-timbered houses and is a tourist drawcard.

This is the largest square in Strasbourg, Place Kléber. From photos it looks very attractive around Christmas time with a tall tree installed.


We chatted at length at a cafe. I did not realise that B had to be back at the station to catch the 1653. We had to miss one tram because it was too crowded. We got to the station in the nick of time and her train was still at the platform. We said a hurried goodbye and the train rolled out. But I felt something was wrong. The train looked too small to be a cross-border train. I looked at the timetables and realised with horror that I had bundled her onto a local headed the wrong way. I should have known that trains usually depart on time in Europe and that we had just missed her train. Arrgh!


I came back to the station several times in the evening to meet the trains she might be likely to return on but didn't spot her on any of them. Damn, what a stuff up. At the hostel I got some time on an Internet terminal and emailed her an apology hoping that she got home safely. I found out later that she eventually did, thanks to advice from train staff.