Photo Set: Strasbourg

Visit the photo set 2013: Strasbourg on Flickr.

I was once again late in booking a trip for the Easter long weekend. With only about a week to go before the long weekend started, I tried to balance getting some place warm versus the cost to do so as it seemed that everyone else in the Netherlands had the same idea. In the end we decided on Strasbourg, because of its mix of French and German culture, its history and its food.

We took a 10:00 am flight from Amsterdam Schiphol which put us in Strasbourg around 11:30 am. We would have normally have taken the train from the airport into the city centre, but being Good Friday it was only running once an hour and we just missed it. So we took a taxi to our hotel, Le Grand Hotel Strasbourg. The hotel was well positioned just a few minutes walk from the old city and close to the train station.

After storing our hand luggage, we headed off into the old city. We had the streets almost to ourselves as the bulk of the stores were closed for the holiday. We made our way into the Place Kelber and decided to grab some lunch at the Restaurant Kolher-Rehm on the square. I had a traditional deer stew with spaëtzle and Robin had a quiche Lorraine. Fortified by lunch, we continued to walk through the old city, past the the Cathedral and back along the river L’Ill to La Petit France before returning to the hotel. Dinner was at Flamme & Co for some traditional tartes flammees.

On Saturday, we started by doing some reconnaissance of the train station and then walked south to the Barrage Vauban, where we were able to get a good view over the Ponts Couvert. We then walked through the south side of La Petit France, past the St Thomas Church, through Place Gutenberg and to the Palais Rohan. At the Palais, we took in the Museum of Decorative Arts. Afterwards, we toured the Cathedral and its impressive 18-metre astronomical clock. We had lunch at the Au Gutenberg at the Place Gutenberg. We poked around in the various shops and stores on our way back to the the hotel and decided to have a simple dinner in our hotel room of wine, bread and cheese. We picked up a bottle of Willy Gisselbrecht Gewurztraminer from a nearby Nicholas, a loaf of bread from the Histoire de Pains and a quick trip to the Carrefour City beside the hotel for some cheese.

Sunday saw us head out to catch the Batorama boat ride around the old city. It was a great way to see parts of the city outside the old city island. Our last major stop was at the Alsatian Museum, where we both enjoyed the folk arts and history of the Alsace region. We had time for one last big lunch, this time at Au Vieux Strasbourg. I had a terrific rabbit and foie gras terrine for an entree and Bouchées à la Reine (chicken and mushroom vol-au-vent) with spaëtzle for my main, while Robin had a classic Choucroute garnie; ham, sauerkraut and potatoes. We had a nice Fischer Tradition beer with our meal, a good local beer.

Our trip home was uneventful and we were back in the house in Amsterdam by 2:00 pm. We agreed that three days was about right for a late winter trip to Strasbourg; if we had gone later in the spring or summer, we probably would have explored more of the surrounding area and perhaps used the city’s shared bike service, Vélhop.

Barry Cott Written by:

Barry is one of the driving forces behind Station Studios. An avid photographer and outdoor enthusiast, when he's not traveling, he calls Port Stanley, Ontario home.