Strasbourg

Today I went to Strasbourg. I caught the 7:48am train and got to Strasbourg around 9:30. As I was walking to the Notre Dame Cathedral, I stopped by a restaurant recommended by my travel book, Winter Patisserie. There, I had a croissant and coffee for breakfast. It was the cutest little place. It was really cozy inside, and they had really well designed cakes, cookies, and candy. I then continued to the cathedral while checking out some of the tourist shops. It seemed like every place sold glockenspiels, German beer mugs, and miniature versions of the houses. I resisted the urge to buy anything though :)

I finally came to the cathedral; it was huge--definitely a focus point in Strasbourg. It had the usual sculpture and detailing on the outside with stained glass windows. I have to say that the stained glass windows in this cathedral have been my favorite. They also had a beautifully ornate organ and other decorations. I also decided to climb to the three-hundred something stairs to get to the lookout point at the top of the cathedral--the view was great.

After my adventures in the cathedral, I got some chocolate hazelnut gelato (so delicious!), and I went to tour the museum of decorative arts and paintings in the Palace of Rohan. The decorative arts museum was gorgeous! There was so much intricate detail put into everything during that time period. The paintings were very interesting as well--a very strong religious/roman theme.

Then, I went on a boat tour of Strasbourg. It was pretty interesting and seeing the entire city via the river was really pretty. I love the German influence on the architecture. After my boat tour, I went to "winstub" for some lunch. I got munster cheese and a fischer beer for lunch--very tasty! Before I headed back to Metz, I explored some of the other areas of the city including "le petite france." It was all very pretty, and it was nice to get see some of the German culture as well.

When I arrived back in Metz, I met up with Ben and Tiernan to eat their favorite food in France--kababs. Basically lamb, lettuce, and sauce in a pita. It was pretty good, but very filling. Tomorrow I head for Nancy--Au Revoir!