Strasbourg, France (or is is Germany?)

Please click on the photos to make them larger.  They are definitely worth seeing!  Come back again and I will have some photos of the Quilts we saw the first day in Sainte Marie Aux Mines.

The first day we flew into the Frankfort Germany Airport.  The flight was 9 hours and some minutes and we flew at 36000 feet up, which is a mind boggling number of feet.  The screen told me it was like negative 75 degrees so I was not inclined to step outside.  I so tired of sitting and flying by the time we arrived.

Once we collected all 15 of the Baton Rouge people together plus Don who met us in Houston and two quilters from Atlanta GA we found Jurgan, our bus driver.  He has been driving for Marchita for so many years and destinations throughout Europe.  

As we flew into the airport we were able to see wind turbines and nuclear energy sources.

Welcome to the Frankfort Airport!

Once on the bus we headed to Strasbourg France to a Cathedral then our very interesting hotel on the Square.  We had about a 30 minute bus ride to the villages that held the European Patchwork Festival.  

  

The fields of asparagus were everywhere.  We also saw lots of cornfields and some leafy potato fields.  

 

The bridges were lovely, I love to photograph bridges too!  Wait till you see some of the bridges in the cities.  This one was before we reached Strasbourg France. 

 


 Ohhh!  The signs say we are heading to Paris!  What?  Not on this trip, you say?

More bridges.









Ah, more bridges throughout the city.  Strasbourg has almost as many canals as Venice Italy!  And the flowers were so beautiful everywhere.  Color dominated the streets and windows everywhere, pink geraniums, yellow coreopsis, bright red salvia.


Strasbourg is an old city.  In 1988, Strasbourg celebrated 2000 years as a city.  That boggles my mind! 

It is the capital of the Alsace region in France and the formal seat of the European Parliament.  Its unique culture and relationship to the border between France and Germany blends the two countries.  The city grew from the Roman encampment of Argenroratum first recorded in 12 BC.

It became French, then German, then French, then German...…then French again after WWII in 1944.


  It is where my German 

Grandmother Irma Pottharst came from.  My family were dressmakers, which now makes perfect sense since this area was the premier fabric, textile and lace making area since the 1200s.

The Strasbourg Cathedral is one of the best known examples of Gothic Cathedrals.  It contains the famous Astronomical Clock that dates from 1681.

The first clock had been built in the 14th century but it stopped working and had to be rebuilt.  The clock displays the positions of the sun, moon, solar and lunar eclipses.  It is remarkable because of the many dials - the clock, the astrolabe, the planets and eclipses.  It also has painted panels depicting the creation, resurrection, the last judgment and virtue and vice.  It has moving statues and musical entertainment with the six distinct tunes.



This is the famous Rose Window.  It is huge and beautiful.  There was an umbrella for sale that had the window printed on it, I should have bought it!






These are the foolish virgins and the wise virgins.  They tell the story of how being virtuous will get you a good husband and being foolish will get you sent to the devil.
 




There are Flying Horses all over the city in the squares.  This one has two stories!





The Rhine River flows through Strasbourg as it lies on the edge of the Black Forest.  Many of the buildings are from the middle ages.  in 1605 the worlds first newspaper was printed here.  There is a statue in one of the squares commemorating this fact.  This is a statue of Gutenberg who invented the printing press and printed his famous bible.  Before that, all books were handwritten.

The buildings are most beautiful if you are looking for architectural wonder.  Having Carrie has made me more aware of how they are build and what they are made from.  









All you have to do is walk through the city and you will find amazing sights.








This is the Medieval Bridge called Ponts Couverts built during the 17th century.  At one time it was the gates to the city.  most of the covered bridges are no longer covered however, this is a covered bridge on one side There are 4 of those towers still standing.

 During WWII the Nazis occupied the area and the American and British bombings destroyed a lot of the city and old buildings.  The buildings built after that period are a mix of 5 centuries of history.

There you see Frank and Oscar walking about in the square.



This is the Protestant Church, John Calvin walked these streets too.  It was an important center in the Protestant Reformation.  Today it does not have a religion attached to it, as they believe that anyone is welcome to worship there.

In medical discoveries, in 1889 it was discovered by Minkowski that the pancreas is involved in diabetes.  Amazing.

Please enjoy some other beautiful photos from Strasbourg, France.