A low cost holiday in France, in Strasbourg, where there is not only the European Parliament.
This is the story of Strasbourg: the most European of Alsatian cities and the most Alsatian of European cities.
Headquarters European Parliament and the European Commission for Human Rights, Strasbourg is a modern and avant-garde city, the vibrant heart of our European Community. Modern mirrored buildings, in steel and reinforced concrete, welcome parliamentarians and officials from all over Europe and churn out measures, requests and so on day after day.
But, in the face of so much Europeanism and in contrast to it, Strasbourg offers tourists and anyone passing through the city a ancient and river landscape, made up of half-timbered houses with exposed wooden frames, of water channels that flow into the historic center and of systems of dams that guarantee efficient river navigation.
The ancient heart of Strasbourg is located around the river Ill and is called the Petite France. It is here that the half-timbered houses show themselves in all their majesty. Among all, the Maison des Tanneurs that is the house of the leather tanners, one of the oldest or perhaps the oldest in the city. La Petite France and its half-timbered houses have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for many years now.
The dam system built on the Ill River is interesting. Anyone, at the passage of a boat, can stop and observe what is happening. The dams they close a stretch of river in order to accumulate a sufficient quantity of water to allow the advancement of the boat which otherwise would not have been able to navigate the Ill. When the boat has crossed that stretch of the river, the dams will open allowing the boat to progress, then closing behind it to accumulate water in the new stretch of river.
Within the Petite France district, on the banks of the Ill, is the Pont San Martin. This is the area of Strasbourg that I prefer, the most chic and popular, both during the day and in the evening. There are numerous places where you can taste the typical local dishes accompanied perhaps by a good glass of Alsatian wine. Overlooking the river, close to the bridge of the same name, is the Au Pont San Martin Restaurant: one of the excellences of Strasbourg in terms of gastronomy.
Very characteristic, the restaurant is spread over three floors with several tables overlooking the river. The ground floor and first floor are very welcoming and, if you are lucky enough to find a table with a river view, dinner can have interesting implications both in terms of sight and taste. The basement, on the other hand, is slightly claustrophobic. I think it is used in case of need, in periods of greater tourist crowding.
It is not impossible to stay there, but it is much less airy and spacious than the other two and the tables with their respective seats seem almost stacked together. The menu offers a wide variety of dishes, from appetizers to typical quiches, up to sensational desserts, passing through gourmet first and second courses. The prices are average, considering that Petite France is the coolest neighborhood in Strasbourg and that, in any case, France is more expensive than Italy. In any case, it is prices accessible to all and I guarantee you that it is money well spent.
To protect Strasbourg and its inhabitants, the imposing one stands out Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame, which, begun in the XNUMXth century, was only completed many centuries later, enriching itself over the years. The very original is located inside the Notre Dame Cathedral astronomic watch, a Renaissance masterpiece that, worn out by time, stopped working even before the French Revolution.
Having stood still for many decades, it was thanks to the genius of Jean Baptiste Schwilgué that, in 1842, the clock returned to keep time. Scwilgué he spent his whole life immersed in mechanical studies, with the sole aim of restoring movement to that clock, the opaque symbol of his beloved city. The commitment and perseverance with which he dedicated himself to his research repaid him for every effort and sacrifice made, proclaiming him to the honors of history and returning to Strasbourg and to all of us a similar jewel of engineering and architecture.
