After 85 days wandering in Europe, we are on our way back to Brisbane. We left the 7th July, on the evening that the 3rd State of Origin was played and we will be back in Oz 2 days before the NRL Grand Final.
Our 65 days on the road in France came to a fast and painless conclusion today as we returned our car to Citroen. Within 15 minutes of arriving at TT Cars centre at Charles de Gaul Airport, we had sold the car back to Citroen and the TT Car shuttle bus had us at the door of terminal 2E.
This morning we left Strasbourg at just before 7.00am. Five and half hours later we arrived at Charles de Gaul airport with two pit stops along the way. The Michelin man said the trip would be 481km of which 458km was on motorways. Tolls were 2 Euro more than the 32 Euro he had predicted.
In the final wash up we drove 10,676km in the 62 days we had the car. We used 619.99L of diesel at an average of 1.11 Euro per litre. The Picasso consumption averaged 4.56l/100km a whisker under 50 miles per gallon. Very impressive. It would have been even better if we had stayed off the high speed, gas guzzling motorways.
The food in France is so good it is hard to tear ourselves away. But our buttons and zips suggest we are having too good a time. We will be searching high and low for a real French bakery in Brisbane; after our weigh loss targets are achieved.
From Paris we are off to London for a day and half, then back to Brisbane via Singapore. Within 3 days we will go from getting out of bed in Strasbourg on the French-German border to going to bed in Clontarf.
We are no where near tried of traveling, but the cold, cloudy, rainy weather wears thin with us really quickly.
Strasbourg...
We rolled into Strasbourg on Friday afternoon. It was raining and cold. By Saturday morning it was dark, raining and cold. After 81 days on the road we were forced to buy umbrellas. By Saturday afternoon there was nothing else to do but go home to our tiny, cold hostel room, have a hot shower and go to bed. It stopped raining by Sunday and by Monday there were even patches of glorious sunshine. For the whole time we were in Strasbourg the temperature did not get above 15 degrees Cmostly we were in single figures.
In spite of the weather the glory of Strasbourg shone through.
The centre piece of the city is the Cathedral Notre Dame. The complexity and the detail on the exterior is unbelievable.
Strasbourg is a flat city and the cathedral spire can be seen from everywhere...
The interior is no where near as intricate...
Also in the Cathedral is the amazing astronomical clock.....
Next door to the Cathedral is the former Bishops Palace which is now a series of museums. We visited the Fine Arts Museum and had the place to ourselves even though the streets outside were heaving with tour groups.
During our stay we also visited the Museum of Modern Art. The building is a modern glass and concrete structure like Brisbane's GOMA. It has it share of weird and wacky (they call it experimental art)...
But the main art collection on display is absolutely fabulous. We just dropped in to get out the rain and cold and were very, very impressed. The museum has a large collection of Kandinsky's work including the ceramic tiles he designed to line the walls of a music room in a home in Berlin. This Museum is not to be missed on any visit to Strasbourg.
Strasbourg as its name suggests has a history of being part of France or Germany depending on who won the last war. Strasbourg is on the Rhine River which currently forms part of the French-German border.
At times when Strasbourg is part of Germany the Notre Dame Cathedral become Protestant (Lutheran) and when France is in the ascendancy the Cathedral is Catholic again as it is now. The Lutheran's have to make do with their much smaller church. But it does have this sculpture by Pigalle...
An organ used by Mozart...
and a grand pipe organ of world renown....
Strasbourg is one of the few places we have visited in France where there has been any real sign of another religion other than Catholicism.
Like all old, rich and powerful cities, Strasbourg has it grand public buildings....
Since the inception of the European Union, Strasbourg is the home of the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights and other great money wasting organizations that unaccountable politicians can dream up to keep the proletariat poor from paying taxes. By the look of these building the EU pollies are good at feathering their own nests.
In the Republic Square is one of the poinant statues dedicated to the loss of life though war. The sculpture reputedly shows a mother holding her two dead sons, one a French soldier the other a German soldier
While still on sculptue, but on a lighter note, amongst the city luminaries honoured with a statue is Gutenburg, the inventor of the printing press, who perfected his invention while he lived in Strasbourg...
We don't know anything about this sculpture but we were very impressed...
The food in Strasbourg is a blend of French and German. The cold, wet weather gave us a good excuse to sample the local comfort food and to spend some time in the warmth of the cafes and restaurants.
You've got to love a city where the pulic transport is modern, clean, safe, efficient and almost free. We could travel on all city trams and buses for 24 hours for just 5.50 Euro total... not each.
Plus a city with a flea market is also not to be missed.
Despite all the wars the old buildings have survived. This building next to Notre Dame Cathedral is a prime example. It is called Maison Kammerzell and was built in 1465. It is said to be one of the finest half timbered houses in France. Half timbered homes were considered more like furniture than true real estate because they were designed and built so they could be pulled down, moved and rebuilt elsewhere A bit like Ikea furniture.
Thers is a section on the canals, called "Petit France" originally built and occupied by the tanners of Strasbourg in the 14th and 15th century that is incredibly beautiful.
Speaking of canals, we of course fitted in a cruise luckily in between rain showers.
Over the three days in Strasbourg we just about walked our feet off. The buildings and the city is so beautiful we just couldn't stop. Just another street or just another corner.
On Monday, our last day in Strasbourg, we finally got a few patches of blue sky. This made the walk around the city and the gardens just that much more beautiful. This is the L'Orangerie built for Napoleon's Josephine...
The park has it resident population of Storks which nest on the tops of the chimneys.
This is the restaurant in the grounds of the gardens....
In spite of the weather the glory of Strasbourg shone through.
The centre piece of the city is the Cathedral Notre Dame. The complexity and the detail on the exterior is unbelievable.
Strasbourg is a flat city and the cathedral spire can be seen from everywhere...
The interior is no where near as intricate...
Also in the Cathedral is the amazing astronomical clock.....
Next door to the Cathedral is the former Bishops Palace which is now a series of museums. We visited the Fine Arts Museum and had the place to ourselves even though the streets outside were heaving with tour groups.
During our stay we also visited the Museum of Modern Art. The building is a modern glass and concrete structure like Brisbane's GOMA. It has it share of weird and wacky (they call it experimental art)...
But the main art collection on display is absolutely fabulous. We just dropped in to get out the rain and cold and were very, very impressed. The museum has a large collection of Kandinsky's work including the ceramic tiles he designed to line the walls of a music room in a home in Berlin. This Museum is not to be missed on any visit to Strasbourg.
Strasbourg as its name suggests has a history of being part of France or Germany depending on who won the last war. Strasbourg is on the Rhine River which currently forms part of the French-German border.
At times when Strasbourg is part of Germany the Notre Dame Cathedral become Protestant (Lutheran) and when France is in the ascendancy the Cathedral is Catholic again as it is now. The Lutheran's have to make do with their much smaller church. But it does have this sculpture by Pigalle...
An organ used by Mozart...
and a grand pipe organ of world renown....
Strasbourg is one of the few places we have visited in France where there has been any real sign of another religion other than Catholicism.
Like all old, rich and powerful cities, Strasbourg has it grand public buildings....
Since the inception of the European Union, Strasbourg is the home of the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights and other great money wasting organizations that unaccountable politicians can dream up to keep the proletariat poor from paying taxes. By the look of these building the EU pollies are good at feathering their own nests.
In the Republic Square is one of the poinant statues dedicated to the loss of life though war. The sculpture reputedly shows a mother holding her two dead sons, one a French soldier the other a German soldier
While still on sculptue, but on a lighter note, amongst the city luminaries honoured with a statue is Gutenburg, the inventor of the printing press, who perfected his invention while he lived in Strasbourg...
We don't know anything about this sculpture but we were very impressed...
The food in Strasbourg is a blend of French and German. The cold, wet weather gave us a good excuse to sample the local comfort food and to spend some time in the warmth of the cafes and restaurants.
You've got to love a city where the pulic transport is modern, clean, safe, efficient and almost free. We could travel on all city trams and buses for 24 hours for just 5.50 Euro total... not each.
Plus a city with a flea market is also not to be missed.
Despite all the wars the old buildings have survived. This building next to Notre Dame Cathedral is a prime example. It is called Maison Kammerzell and was built in 1465. It is said to be one of the finest half timbered houses in France. Half timbered homes were considered more like furniture than true real estate because they were designed and built so they could be pulled down, moved and rebuilt elsewhere A bit like Ikea furniture.
Thers is a section on the canals, called "Petit France" originally built and occupied by the tanners of Strasbourg in the 14th and 15th century that is incredibly beautiful.
Speaking of canals, we of course fitted in a cruise luckily in between rain showers.
Over the three days in Strasbourg we just about walked our feet off. The buildings and the city is so beautiful we just couldn't stop. Just another street or just another corner.
On Monday, our last day in Strasbourg, we finally got a few patches of blue sky. This made the walk around the city and the gardens just that much more beautiful. This is the L'Orangerie built for Napoleon's Josephine...
The park has it resident population of Storks which nest on the tops of the chimneys.
This is the restaurant in the grounds of the gardens....
