Strasbourg

Getting to Chamonix from Berlin by car was the strangest trip that I have ever had. Berlin is in the top right corner of Germany (not the tippy top, but pretty close). Chamonix is diagonally southwest, though the bottom left corner of Germany, through Switzerland and into France. It is a very long drive, even by American standards.

The road from Berlin to Nürnberg (and eventually München or Munich) was as packed as our little car. Every other family roadster had a Dachbox (roof box) strapped to the roof like a casket… except for the ones on the BMW’s and big Mercedes which resembled cruise missiles as they sped past. Rather than slog the entire twelve hours in one go, we decided to stop in Strasbourg, France, just across the Rhein from Germany. We finally arrived in Kehl after about six hours on the road (including one traffic jam that would even aggravate a new yorker). Kehl is a nasty looking city on the Rhein in Germany. It is a bit like Nashua New Hampshire without the Boston drivers. Sadly the French drivers make Bostonians seem polite and law abiding by comparison. They poured onto the main road from Kehl to Strasbourg from tacky shopping plazas and strip malls on the German side of the river. You could almost feel the tension between the law abiding german drivers and the impatient, honking french ones. I thought we would witness the start of a new Franco Germanic war. The one bridge across the Rhein was backed up like the womans restroom at a Dixie Chicks concert. Getting across the river (one mile) took 45 minutes. Arghhh!

Eventually we drove through the decaying remains of the unused French border station and through the industrial section of Strasbourg by the Rhein. We were underwhelmed. The place felt more like Newark than a lovely Alsatian city… until we reached the historic center, then WOW!

Strasbourg is in the heart of the Alsace region, a sort of Franco Germanic hybrid. The architecture around Grande Île (Grand Island, the historic center) has a Bavarian feel to it at times… old half timber framed houses for example. On the other hand, it has a distinctly 19th century French feel because there are several giant French government buildings, especially in Place de la Republique. The European Union is headquartered in Strasbourg now, so Napolean’s burocrats have been replaced by high paid civil servants from all over Europe.

Strasbourg oozes with a expensive sophistication. That is actually not bad, unless you step in it. As a family of four on a tight budget, stepping in it would be having the audacity to enter a restaurant dressed in jeans and dragging two kids along, not speaking French, and looking for a reasonably priced dinner. At one place we were shooed out faster than it takes to say "we are closed". Which was strange since the place was packed. After a fruitless search for a cheap place to eat, we despondently rode the tram three stops back to our hotel, a Holiday Inn. I know, I know, typical American. But at least I found it on a European web site. http://www.hotel.de/homepage.aspx ☺ Actually, it ended up being fantastic. We had a big room, the kids could jump in the pool (a polar bear would have liked the water), we had a great view of the cathedral, and it was pretty cheap (95 euros). Most surprisingly, the restaurant was fairly priced and had great food. http://www.holidayinn-strasbourg.com/.

Sunday morning we gracefully declined the front desk clerk's offer for a $60 breakfast, ignored her warning that nothing in the city was open, and rode the tram back to Place de la Republique. A stones throw from the tram stop we found a wonderful bakery/café and selected from a fantastic variety of pastries. The friendly lady behind the counter heard us speak a little german, and threw us a life line by switching to it from French. It is amazing what a relief it is to be able to communicate instead of just pointing at stuff and grunting like a cave man.

Following our breakfast, we strolled around the cathedral, along the river Ill, and then jumped back into the car for the final leg of the trip to Chamonix. More on that piece of the adventure is yet to come.