Five neat things about Strasbourg

(in no particular order; some are particular to Strasbourg, and others are more generally European)

The bike lanes

We are definitely getting bikes when we get settled into our apartment. It almost seems that bicyclists have more rights than pedestrians, with 2/3 of the sidewalk generally reserved for those on bikes.

Even as a pedestrian, you have to shoulder-check (as Mark says). You may think you have the right-of-way, but you always have to keep an eye out for cars nosing into the pedestrian lanes while making turns. We have become very Strasbourgois in our strolling; no one waits for the “homme vert” (green man on the lights) to cross the street. You just check both ways and go, whether it is homme vert or homme rouge.

The toilets

For the most part, toilets get their own rooms (la toilette or WC). Everything else is in another room (la salle de bain). This make sense, but I find myself going into la salle de bain and locking the door before I realize that the toilet is not there.

The architecture

Except for some big, blocky apartment buildings in Esplanade that were put up in the 1970s, most of the buildings here have amazing character. I find myself wanting to take a picture every time we walk down a new street, because it’s all so different from what we’re used to seeing.

The wonderful little shops – pattiserie, boulangerie, etc.

Although there are grocery stores that have almost everything – we have been shoppng at ATAC and MarchéU while staying at the hotel – there are still little shops everywhere that specialize in one or two things. This goes for almost everything from pastries, wine and flowers, to electronics. The idea of the megastore has definitely not arrived here yet (and that’s a good thing, in my opinion).

We ran into this while looking for an apartment. There is not one single agency that has information about all of the furnished apartments available in Strasbourg. This is not unlike Canada, but here each agency may only have five or ten properties (apartments or houses) that they look after. There must be 60 – 80 agencies in Strasbourg. We had no idea what we were up against when we started looking for a furnished apartment.

The cathedral

It’s absolutely magnificent (and none of my pictures do it justice). It’s so big, and the square in the centre of Strasbourg where it is located is so small, that it’s impossible to take a picture of it unless you’re far away and up high. We haven’t taken the tour yet, but it’s on our list of things to do once we get settled into the apartment.

For more of our pictures, see our Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christina-t/

Email us: christinateskey @ yahoo.ca

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Epic Journey to Germany

Ok, so what we really did was hopped the D-line tram to the Aristide Briand station, walked half a block, squeezed on to the #21 bus with about 60 other people, and then sweated through the 10-minute ride across the Rhine River to the town of Kehl, Germany.

A few people have recommended Kehl to us as a place to go shopping and relax. We had a nice day walking through the pedestrian mall, checking out all of the stores. The prices in Kehl are very reasonable, and it seems to have more of a selection of the types of stores that we patronize in Canada than does Strasbourg. Both Meghan and I got warmer coats, as the weather in Strasbourg has been decidedly cool for the last few days (although yesterday was very warm and sunny).

It’s amazing how the Rhine River absolutely divides the two countries; although Strasbourg seems mostly French but faintly German with its street names and gastronomic influences, Kehl is all German. The only French we saw or heard was at the café, where the menu was in French and German, and the waiter spoke French (albeit very badly – poor Mark wasn’t sure what language the waiter was speaking and so kept switching back and forth between French and German!)

Finding an apartment

I've been reluctant to post for the last week or so because of our anxiety and frustration in finding a furnished apartment. I wanted to wait until I could say, "We've found an apartment!", but I also want to report the realities of our trip, not just the good parts.

Last Wednesday we lucked into finding a three-bedroom furnished apartment near our hotel, which is in a very nice area close to the European Parliament. We were able to view the apartment that day, and although it is a bit older, we decided it would suit us. The kids were especially impressed because it comes with a cat. The main drawback is that the apartment is far from the tram, which can be an issue when you're on foot. It also has a tiny kitchen, even smaller than the one we had in Burns Lake.

The next day we looked at another apartment closer to the city centre. The building is located on a busy street and the area is not as friendly as the one where the first apartment is located. However, the inside of the apartment is much newer and nicer looking than the first. This one only has two bedrooms, but it has a very spacious living room area.

We decided we would take the first apartment and phoned to let the woman know on Friday. At this point we found out that she is only the caretaker, and she had to phone the owners.

We have been in the grips of anxiety ever since, waiting for her to call back. Mark phoned on Monday, to hear her say "one or two more days" before she would let us know. Compounding the frustration was the knowledge that our room rate was escalating due to the sitting of the European Parliament, which convenes for three days once or twice a month. When Parliament sits, the room rates go up and hotels are full. In addition, the staff at the front desk of the hotel were never sure if we could get another night since our original seven-day reservation ran out.

Today things are looking up. We befriended Rawad, a young Lebanese-Canadian man who works at the hotel front desk (and is also a Masters dental student), and he has taken on our challenge of finding accommodation. Last evening when we told him we were moving to a different hotel because it was becoming too expensive, he encouraged us to speak to the manager and strike a deal. We did, and then the manager also tried to help us find an apartment by phoning around to a few places. We also made an appointment to see Bernadette, who showed us the second apartment. Luckily it is still available, and we could move in on September 15 if we want. She speaks excellent English, and she would be able to help us get our electricity and gas connected.

If this doesn't work out, we are also considering renting an unfurnished apartment and furnishing it ourselves. This is a scary thought, considering the maze of bureaucracy that surrounds every business dealing in France, but we would do it if we had to. There is a wide selection of unfurnished apartments here, and in the end, no matter how difficult, it's all part of the adventure!