What a great week we’ve just had at Strasbourg. There were lots of things that I want to remember:

• Michele and Rene were just the best. We were staying in a house adjoining theirs, and they were so friendly and kind.

Michele gave us a bottle of wine and a loaf of sweetbread on our arrival, then some Alsace cookies another day, some vegetables from her garden and a delicious quiche, cake, homemade icecream and a gift for Peter on his birthday!

 

I really enjoyed talking to her, trying out my french. She was very patient! What a blessing they both were!

• The house – it was very nice, much roomier than we’d anticipated. It had been renovated only a few years ago, and was modern and comfortable. I loved the different colours in the rooms and how they all worked together. The shower was large and had plenty of hot water. Loved it!
• Strasbourg itself – we were so close! The Park and Rides were excellent – we could all go on the tram return into town for only $3.20. The town was easy to get around and we enjoyed walking around, looking at all the old buildings.

 

The colours were great – the buildings were all randomly coloured and it made the place interesting and fun.

• Petite France, with some of the oldest buildings was a beautiful part of town to wander around. We stopped to watch some guys in kayaks attempting to go up the “rapids” a small section of canal where the water gushed out at high speed.

• Peter’s birthday. Forty-five. Big Event! We made our way back to Petite France and bought the thing he loves most – dessert and coffee! It was in a lovely tearoom, very quaint. We all had a great time. The day had started with Michele bringing round quiche, cake and homemade icecream, so we were all pretty overloaded on the sweet stuff by the end of the day. Superb!

• Daniel loved going to the Mini-Zoo in the Parc de l’Orangerie.

• Amy did too, but her favourite thing was going on the boat in the lake. They both found it pretty hard to row in the right direction, but they kept going till they got it sorted. Great persistence kids! Well done!

• There was a free book stall at the park. You could take any book you wanted, and bring back whatever books you wanted to give away. Great idea!
• No museums this week so it was back to traditional school. Well, the kids did lots of maths and writing. We read some history and even did spelling. The kids got down to it and worked hard. Bit of competition happening about who did the most time on school. Probably Dad.
• Supermarkets seemed more expensive – and can’t find lemon honey. The oldest pharmacy in Strasbourg had the cheapest antihistamines and probiotics (yes, you can buy them from the chemist, they are treated like a medicine). The pharmacists recommended them for Daniel to have with his antibiotics like it was standard treatment. And they worked, took away his nausea immediately! No need to find a health shop!
• Public toilets were free!! And clean! Celebrate, it’s a rare occurrence. No need to go to McDonalds!
• Home made soup, made from the pumpkin Michele gave me, with fresh baguette from the local boulangerie, eaten in front of the TV while we all watched Johnny English Reborn. Great night after a day of sightseeing.
• Finally, I want to remember walking around our suburb with its really colourful, interesting houses. Red, orange, yellow, green, purple and blue, it was like a rainbow had snatched from the sky and spilt across the houses.

 

(Week 31B32A: Wednesday, 19 September 2012 – Wednesday, 26 September 2012)