Destination Strasbourg

I dream in France.  Of small towns, and larger cities.  In my dreams I wander in and out of small alleys. Surrounding myself with the smell and the sounds of the French people.  I have had people ask me if I believe I lived in Paris in another life. For some time I thought maybe so, but I am now sure that it was not my "home".  I am however not as sure about Strasbourg, France.

My first visit to Strasbourg, a city literally a stones throw away from the German border, was 9 years ago.  The plane ticket a 50th birthday gift from my husband. Flew into Paris and then took a train to the town.  Coming out of the train station it felt strangely familiar to me. I will say that I do a lot of research before I travel.  I read maps, layouts of towns.  I want to understand the lay of the land before my feet hit the ground.  Understanding how to cram in as much as possible without wasting to much time figuring out where I am.  And I have been known in a dire situation to turn on my cell phone data and consult Google Maps.  But until you see the real estate you haven't seen anything.

We spent 2 days in Strasbourg, Jess and Matt, and Jacquie and I.  Traveling small streets and taking in the Christmas Markets, eating bratwurst and trying our hand at Gluhwein. Late at night, when everyone was sleeping, I ventured out on my own.  Just to walk the town, to see things that in a crowd of people you miss.  I felt a kindred with Strasbourg.  She spoke to me in a whisper as I traveled down the Rue des Pucelles, where earlier we had dinner at Au Cruchon.  I stopped at the Place St Etienne, for a break and to just absorb it all.  

Flash forward to December 2019.  Again I had a trip planned for Strasbourg/Paris.  Turns out the great French transportation strike was due to start the day of our arrival.  So with a plan B for when they cancelled our train from Paris to Strasbourg, we instead completed the trek in a rental car.  Again, when I emerged from the parking garage it was a sense of home for me.  As before, I navigated the town as if I had lived there before.  Since the first trip lots of things have presented themselves to me.  Artwork of the city by an artist E Schmitt. My childhood fear of storks, the bird that literally nest in the chimneys and rooftops of the town. My life time love of Vichy rouge, and wooden hearts. 

My plan is to return to Strasbourg with Erik.  His family is from Germany but the Alsatian area is rife with Schmitts. See if he feels the kindred that I do.