After spending some time in London, I got on the 5:15 Eurostar to Paris without a hitch. It was the day the cab drivers expected to run out of fuel, so I was happy to get a cab. Once at the Gare du Nord, I took the Metro to the Gare de l'Est for my 10:50 departure to Strasbourg. I had purchased my tickets via phone in advance, and simply had to show the credit card I used to pick them up that morning. I couldn't believe I was in Paris & leaving it! But a new area of France beckoned me...
The train was on time & arrived in Strasbourg at about 3:00. My taxi almost made it to my hotel, but was hit in the rear, and thus, my driver had some things to settle with the driver behind us. I checked into the Hotel de l'Europe, a 3-star hotel very close to the Petite France area. I thought 3 stars was a generous rating. The bedspreads, rugs & curtains needed a serious facelift, and the air conditioner that was promised was a glorified fan. (And yes, I did need it while I was here!) But all in all, for the price, FF450, which worked out to all of $58 while I was there, I could not complain. New bathroom, excellent, friendly service and a great location. The buffet breakfast was just ok, and cost FF50 additional.
The first thing I did was to get myself acquainted with this charming city, so I walked, and walked some more - around the Cathedral, La Petite France, and Place Kléber mainly. I shopped around for dinner eventually, and ended up at a little place called Chez Tante Liesel. Lace curtains, red checkered tablecloths, and locals from what I could hear & see. I started with an endive salad with walnuts & roquefort, and had the confit of goose for dinner. It was served with mushrooms in a cream sauce and some fried potatoes. It was excellent. I had a half-bottle of local pinot noir & some espresso. The bill came to FF208. A funny thing happened while I was there: four gentleman came in & ordered the choucroute garni, and the waiter suggested they move to a larger table!! It was quite a large dish, and there was no doubt in my mind at that point that I was indeed in Alsace...
Thursday morning, I was off to see the cathedral. The astronomical clock was really a sight to see, although I was not around to see the special performance at mid-day. I climbed the 320+ steps to the top, which gives you amazing views! After taking many pictures, I climbed back down & headed to the Palais des Rohan, just across the Place. There are several museums located here, but I chose the Musée des Beaux Arts, which has quite a collection of the Masters. After meandering about some more, I started to think about lunch & saw something I love to see: a tremendously long line outside of a boulangerie. It must be good. And it was. The bakery was called Paul La Boulanger, and they had many varieties of sandwiches. I chose something that was called a local specialty: Thon St. Moritz - tuna, mayonnaise, tomatoes on wonderful bread (of course.) OK, it was a tuna salad sandwich, but it was sooo good.
Next I decided to do the boat tour of the Ill, which I really enjoyed - you see a lot that you don't see on foot. And this was my first experience with locks on a canal (or at least the first one I remember) - how interesting to watch! The tour was only in French, but there were definitely other multi-lingual ones. I did some shopping afterwards (foie gras, of course, and a smart-looking bag), and stopped at a cafe for my afternoon "demi"; right on the Place de la Cathédrale - excellent people watching and another beautiful day - 70s and sunny. Back to the hotel to rest up and dress up for my special birthday dinner at the 3-star Au Crocodile.
When I got back to the hotel, there was a letter from the Jungs at Au Crocodile, welcoming me to Strasbourg, thanking me for choosing their restaurant, and confirming my reservation for that evening. Very nice. Being a lone diner, I was afraid I would get stuck with a "bad" table, but that was not to be the case. The room was beautiful, and the tables nicely spaced for some surreptitious people-watching. I ordered a glass of champagne, which was quickly followed by some amuses-bouche: small cup of broth, mackerel, and some vegetable en gélee. The sommelier and I discussed half-bottles of wine, but he thought it would be best to start by the glass. So with my foie gras sautéed with figs (do I even need to say "yum" at this point?), I had a glass of local pinot gris. For my main course, I ordered the "homard bleu" with vermicelli, pink peppercorns in a citrus sauce, which was excellent. Next was the cheese: some blue, some muenster (like no muenster I've ever tasted), some chevre, and some Mont d'Or. With this, the sommelier picked out a 1996 Bourgogne, which was wonderful. I had ordered the galette of chocolat amer beforehand since it takes extra time to prepare. Served on a bed of crème anglaise, with some berries doused in Grand Marnier, it was excellent! Finally, some truffles and pastries with my espresso. I could barely eat another bite, but sampled a few of these goodies anyway. The devil in me wanted to scoop up those truffles & put them in my bag for another time, but of course, I didn't. Although I did see one table leaving with a "takeaway" box of some sort, which I thought was odd...Monique Jung had come over to me earlier, to see how everything was, and now here was Emile, making sure that everything had been ok. All in all, it was an incredible experience. The bill came to FF978 (oh c'mon, it *was* a birthday present!). Nearly three hours later, I departed, and since it was a beautiful night, I walked around for awhile - lots of people out & about...
On Friday I decided to take a day trip to Colmar. I went to the train station, not knowing when the train times were, but figuring they left often enough for Colmar. After purchasing my tickets via a machine, I asked the ticket agent when the next train left, and realized I had about an hour and a half to kill. Now would be a good time to track down those covered bridges and take some photos. It really is beautiful here with flowers everywhere you turn. I walked around some more, and enjoyed watching the shopkeepers opening up and the city coming to life...
The train ride to Colmar was all of about half-hour. What possessed me NOT to get a map from the tourist office is beyond me, but I read in a guidebook that it was a straight shot up the Avenue de la République to the center of town. How hard could that be? Well, I didn't find that Avenue right away, so I followed the signs that said "centre ville" - big mistake. I always did have trouble with French road signs (I mean, where exactly are they pointing, anyway??) So a ten minute walk took just a little over an hour! By the time I got to the centre ville, I was cranky & hot (it had to be 80-ish today & bright sunshine.) The great thing about traveling alone is no one has to put up with your crankiness!
I had no set plans for dinner tonight, but had read about a place called "Chez Yvonne" in a Food & Wine article. I popped in, but they were complèt, so I walked around some more & contemplated the Maison Kammerzell, subject of many a postcard & many tourists, I'm sure. But they had a table, and it actually ended up being quite good. I started with terrine of foie gras de canard with gelée & toasts, and then had a sautéed cod on a bed of mashed potatoes in a very rich (but wonderful) butter sauce. I ordered a half-bottle of Riesling, and wanted to go a little light on dessert, so I ordered the mirabelle sorbet with mirabelle eau de vie. It was wonderful. The waitress brought the sorbet & the bottle of mirabelle over, and upon my ok, doused the sorbet with the eau de vie. It was great! The space is interesting in this restaurant; one of the oldest buildings in Strasbourg, if I'm not mistaken - very charming. And the waitstaff was as well. Lots of large parties here. The bill came to about US $51.
I had to catch an early train to Paris in the morning, but walked around for a little while. I settled up my bill at the hotel and arranged for a taxi to pick me up at 5:45. It was pouring in the morning - the first rain I had seen in more than a week in Europe. But by the time the sun rose, it was overcast, and by the time I got to Paris, sunny, then overcast, then sunny, then a sprinkle - you know, Paris! And chilly today! Which I was glad about since I had run out of short-sleeved things to wear and was able to don a nice, clean, sweater.
I took a taxi from the Gare de l'Est to the Hotel d'Albion, a little 2-star in the 8th. I had not stayed in a 2-star in quite awhile and was a bit worried. I made the reservation through hotelboulevard.com at a rather late date, so could not really be picky. And it was not bad at all. The usual old-looking rugs, bedspreads & curtains of a 2-star, but I was surprised to find an elevator (normally doesn't matter, but after nearly 10 days of travel, the luggage gets heavy!) a hair dryer in the bathroom, decent shower, and a rather large room for a single! The cost was FF560.
So what to do with myself with such a short amount of time in Paris??!!! Just walk. After walking past the Madeleine, to the Place de la Concorde, through the Tuileries, and over to the Pont Neuf, I decided I wanted to check out the Canal St. Martin, which I had heard about, but never seen in many trips to Paris. I metroed to the Place de la République, picked up a panini chaud (I love these!), and sat along the canal for awhile. I watched the boats going through the locks, took some pictures, and then walked along the canal until I was into the 19th arrondissement. There were quite a few "characters" along this route; that's all I'll say. After this, I walked towards the Bastille, and it was time for my demi stop; I chose a brasserie right by the Oberkampf metro, and had a stereotypical Parisian waiter: gruff, wearing a frown, and slamming down everything possible on the tables around me. I was amused, but the poor man was obviously not happy to be there! I wanted to walk on the Ile St. Louis for a bit, so headed over that way. After taking pictures of some beautiful facades, I crossed over to the right bank again, and walked along the Rue de Rivoli, stopping in an "Etam" shop to buy a gift. At this point, I was now limping back to my hotel! In under 6 hours, I had covered 10 arrondissements! My feet were killing me.
So I rested for a little over an hour, and then met up with some friends/colleagues at Le Caméléon in the 6th. This was a "Bonjour Paris" recommendation, although it was made clear that it was a simple, reliable place, not haute cuisine. The service started out attentive & good, the waiter speaking French to me & English to my friends. I started with lobster ravioli in cream sauce. The sauce was wonderful, but a fork could not cut through the pasta! That's not supposed to happen! The main course was much better; rabbit with tomatoes & pesto, and delicious mashed potatoes. We had a bottle of 1997 Château d'Ardennes. I was going to order the crème brûlée for dessert, but after 45 minutes of waiting, and the area we were seated in being particularly hot, we opted for the check when we finally did get the waiter's attention. Don't get me wrong, I love long, leisurely meals, but this was a bit much for a little, neighborhood place; not to mention that no one should have closed menus in front of them for 45 minutes. In all fairness, they were very busy, and only two people were serving. The bill, with wine and aperitifs, came to about FF270 per person. We took a cab back to my friends' hotel, also in the 8th, and walked along the Champs-Elysées for awhile before calling it a night.
The flight to New York the next morning was uneventful, the best kind! It was a short trip tacked on to the end of some business in London, but a little bit of France is better than none, n'est-ce pas?
I was the one who posted last month about speaking French and having English spoken back to me. Well, it didn't happen this time! At first, I thought it might be a regional thing, being in Alsace and all, but noticed that the same thing happened when I got to Paris. I would love to think that it was a result of watching the French news every night & listening to Radio France International for weeks before my trip(!), but I get the feeling it was more of a freak thing: I just happened to run into more people who were "patient." Regardless, I spoke a lot of French, about which I was very pleased. I love that language.
I had reserved single rooms in London, Strasbourg, and Paris, fully expecting the door to hit the bed when I opened it, but all of the rooms were relatively large! Is this a trend? Or did I just luck out?