Road Trip – Strasbourg, France

G and I spent Christmas in Strasbourg, France.

Many of you may already know that Strasbourg is considered the Christmas capital.

And there’s good reason for this.

You see, (spoiler alert), if Santa really did exist then Strasbourg is what he’d model his North Pole after.

The best thing about Christmas in Strasbourg is the palpable holiday spirit that envelopes the place.

And the fact that it’s in France is also a plus (A+), because that means loads of wonderful French food.

G and I stopped by this cheese stand to sample their specialty dish: tartine.

The cheese monger carefully cut a hunk of cheese, assembled the tartine on a paper plate with some bread, basil and garlic, heated it in a portable oven and …

Voila! Outdoor market food the French way.

But there is more to this city than food and its famed Christmas market. There’s the Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame, considered one of the most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in Europe.

A section of Strasbourg known as “La Petite France” is so special it is a UNESCO world heritage site.

The European Parliament makes Strasbourg its home.

As does the European Court of Human Rights.

After so much sightseeing it was time for some French-style fortification.

A couple of drinking bowls of hot chocolate warmed us inside and out, and prepared us for the next leg of our journey.

We hope you all had a lovely holiday. We look forward to seeing you all again (here or in the U.S.) in 2013.

Arrivederci!

 

We’re Back!

You know how much I love a good road trip, and Europe offers some of the best.

A few weeks ago G and I hopped in our SUV (they pronounce it “soove” over here) and headed for the border.

First stop: Strasbourg, France

From there it was off to Stuttgart, Germany.

Essentially, Stuttgart served as a pit stop on our way to Munich, Germany.

Fourth Stop: Innsbruck, Austria.

Innsbruck was very nice, but nothing prepared me for the love affair I experienced with Zurich, Switzerland.

Although it was not easy to leave the comfort of my new found city, it was off to Rome for New Year.

I am grateful to the Via Michelin maps pictured here and their written directions. When our GPS failed to detect our location – and that happened a lot on this trip – our trusty Michelin directions saved the day.

Much has happened since my last post. G was transferred to the Milan office, so we moved to the big city. Yeah! (In the process, I lost my access to the internet for approximately ten days. Well, I didn’t actually “lose” my connection. Instead, I refused to pay 18 Euros a day for it.) As many of you know, we lived in Milan for a short while back in 2008, so the city feels very much like a second home for us and it was easy to establish a routine here.

Stay tuned. In upcoming days ‘ll post more specifics about the many destinations I mentioned here and bring you up to speed on our time in Milan.

Arrivederci!