Strasbourg

It was very foggy as we drove out of our Eguisheim campsite on our way to Strasbourg. There was an accident on the freeway so we navigated through the villages and vineyards - the fog being really thick at times. It still doesn’t slow down the French drivers though who get a shock when a large Motorhome looms out of the murk right in front of them. The vines seem to go on for ever.

On the other side of Colmar we took a wrong turning - but it was fortuitous as we got to see the small Statue of Liberty by sculptor Bartholdi from Colmar.

We stopped to see some more starling murmurations over the fields. It’s just at this time of the year when they migrate.

We then went on to Camping de Strasbourg - a big campsite not far from the centre of the city.

I had been seeing some flashes out of the side of my eye so I called an optician to discuss it. He advised me to go straight to the hospital emergency eye area to get it checked out as it could indicate a problem with my retina - which I get checked on every year in Australia. So off we went to Strasbourg hospital luckily not far away.

We found the department and my details were taken and I had several scans and 2 examinations. After a quick 3 hours they couldn’t see any issues with my eye but I was told to watch out for any floaters or if the flashing got worse. They put it down to aging and changes in the eye gel. We then went back to our normal van life.

I was impressed by the efficiency of the hospital and I’m happy to know the French health system is in good form if we have any future health issues.

The flashing in my eye is gradually reducing. I blame it on a cold that Glenn gave me. He had it for 5 days and I thought I had escaped it.

Anyway we walked to the nearby Petit France - so named when Strasbourg was German.

In the late 15th century a hospice was built on the island in the Rhine River for small-pox victims and later for French soldiers suffering from syphilis – which the Germans called the “French Disease” to stop the local girls from sleeping with the soldiers! The area became known as “Little France”, more out of derision than patriotism.

It’s now a very interesting area where the old bridges with towers in between used to be covered as a defensive measure.

Also the Vauban barrage, by the famous defensive structure architect Vauban, allowed the River height to be controlled and the camp area downstream to be flooded in times of siege.

There is a fish ladder allowing fish to move upstream.

We then were on the edge of town and found the oldest church in Strasbourg with some good carving on the doors.

Walking through town we found a good cheese shop with cheeses fermenting in their stacks. I liked the sock shop called ‘Bonnie Doon’.

We liked the Gutenberg square with the Gutenberg Statue as he learned goldsmith here from his father and started to develop his movable type blocks before moving to Mainz- our next stop.

From the square we saw the amazingly huge and impressive Strasbourg Cathedral.

We couldn’t get in unfortunately as it was now closed for the night - but we were coming back tomorrow.

We then continued along the streets with other impressive buildings and shops starting to sell Christmas things. Strasbourg is called the ‘Capital of Christmas’ for the Christmas markets here.

We then found a restaurant for dinner called La Hache. It was fully booked but as we were early we managed to get a table for 1.5 hours that was booked later in the night.

The food was excellent- I had duck in raspberries with polenta chips and Glenn had fish and chips with tartare sauce. It also had a very nice atmosphere with good service.

After a very enjoyable evening we got the bus back to the campsite. We got through the locked gate by following a Motorhome in - we had forgotten the gate code!