Last Sunday (free museum day in France) we made it to two museums; or Mark and I did, as we allowed the kids to "escape" after the first one. The Alsatian Museum is contained within three adjoining historic houses along the Ill River in Strasbourg, and the artifacts are spread throughout many rooms. Mark and I were lagging behind, snapping pics and really delving into the history of Alsace, when Meghan said to me, "You know, I'm interested in this to a point." Her point being, of course, that we were taking far too long and had moved far past her point of interest. After that, the kids went ahead of us and had fun exploring the museum on their own as we all followed the arrows through the maze of rooms.
After leaving the Alsatian Museum, Mark and I decided to take a brief look at the nearby Musée Historique, which details the history of the city of Strasbourg. We thought it would be just a quick visit, mostly because I was hungry (it was lunch time), and partly because we had sent the kids home ahead of us. Two hours later, having rushed through the last two hundred years of history, and ravenous (well, me anyway!), we stumbled out into the crisp winter afternoon sunlight. I was very impressed with the museum and felt that we couldn't just rush through it. Not only was the admission free that day, but we were also given free (English!) audio guides and a place to safely lock our coats during the visit, little perks that encouraged us to stay longer than we had intended. True to French form, though, getting in wasn't totally straightforward: after receiving our free entrance tickets, we were each handed a token which had to be deposited in a turnstyle around the corner to allow us into the museum. Why let one system suffice when two or more can be created to do the same thing? : )On the way home we bought petit pain chocolat, beignets choco (like jelly doughnuts, but stuffed with chocolate creme), rum and raisin macaroons, and bretzel salé, the salted dough pretzels that are popular here. Although starving, I managed to keep it down to one bretzel salé, which I happily munched as we walked home in the sun.
We really enjoyed both of the museums and have plans to go back to the Musée Historique, either with guests or on our own. Perhaps it's good that my stomach ruled the afternoon, because at least part of the museum will be fresh for us.
Contact us: christinateskey @ yahoo.ca or mvieweg @ gmail.com
Lots more pics at Flickr pictures
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