Alsace and Lorraine

Begining of May ended the routine of constant work... We got a visit from Alka's mother and set out for a 6 day trip through Alzace and Lorraine (with a short stop in Reims and Laon). We stayed in Strassbourg for three days - we dedicated one day to the city and two remaining days for trips to along the wine route and the Vogeses.

First day we visited Obernai, one of the many superbly, disgustingly well preserved medieval cities in Alzace. You can't escape the feeling of being a turist in these cities, which adds some discomfort to the generally pleasant walking among the old, wooden-webbed houses and occasional churches from 12th or 13th century.








Wine route itself also inspires one with a bourgeois feeling about oneself, as you have countless occasions to stop along the way, buy great wine and jams, and admire little villages with less than, say, 4000 inhabitants, but with two 13th century churches. Really something.









One of the nicest cities we visited was Colmar, home-town of the sculpturor who made the statue of liberty in NY. The town has a very big old town, again with the typical white houses criss-crossed with wooden trams.















Second day was reserved for Strassbourg. I won't repeat myself, gives a similar impressions than those mentioned above, only that it is bigger. And yes - it has one of the most awe-inspiring sights we saw on the trip - the UNESCO protected Cathedral of Our lady.














On the third day we had a pleasant walk through the Vogeses - green and bare, with lots of German tourists using the up-ward wind to make fly their small home-made airplanes.
The day was still long enough so we visited some more villages along the wine route - the, as Lonely planet puts it "picture perfect" Keysersberg, Ribeauville and Selestat. All with old town houses from 16,15th century...












The fourth day we spent in Nancy, a city that owns much to the polish king Leszczynski, whose statue adorns the nice, spacious main square, place Stanislas. City is not quite like others in Alsace, probably because of its many Art Nouveau buildings. Three inter-connected squares are also UNESCO protected, although I didn't really see why should they bother that much.






Fifth day was marked by a visit to Verdun, the place of the massacre battle during the 1st World war. Marked by its tragedy, much like the gorod-geroj Stalingrad, the city is still a place of horrible memory for the French.

Sixth day was marked by the marvellous cathedral of Our lady of Reims and its model sister from Laon. Two cities that played an important role in the shaping of the French state, nice old towns, with their cathedrals being the ones to cling in the memory...