Week In Pictures: March 31 March 31, 2010
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Strasbourg: EU And Petite France March 30, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Strasbourg , add a commentWe decided to go to the EU building today and sadly we were not allowed to go inside the actual building. Apparently they don’t allow people in without being in a group of 20-35 people with a reservation two to thre
e months in advance. We felt a bit better when we saw there was a large group of teenagers (on a field trip methinks) and they were turned away also. It was depressing particularly because their web site that we looked at last night said that they do allow people in without a group. That was a little disappointing.
So afterward we decided to go to Petite France, an area of Strasbourg, and eat our Crepes (with Nutella and banana) that I had made this morning. After we found a nice 
place to go sit it began to rain. We packed our things up and carried on through Petite France’s narrow streets. It was absolutely lovely, the area is a strange mixture of old French and German architecture. There were flower pots hanging from balconies and creperies and bistros on the first floor of the buildings. After a about twenty minutes of walking we found ourselves pretty wet and ducked into a church to hide from the rain for a couple of minutes.
Since it started raining, we went back to Austin’s house and ate the Crepes there. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t sitting on the side of the river either.
A nifty tid-bit of information; Europe loves American oldies, Especially music from the 1980′s !
P.S. We’re planing our next stop this Thursday to Zurich, Switzerland.
Out on the Town March 29, 2010
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This morning we walked around Strasbourg a bit before arriving at the Cathedral, Notre Dame of Strasbourg. The Cathedral was fantastic but we decided not to pay to climb the steps up the bell-tower; however, there is a fantastic astronomical clock in one corner of the church that is a must see for visitors to Strasbourg.
The central part of the cathedral was large and airy, plenty of space for the chairs in the middle and surrounded by hallways with beautiful stained-glass windows along the exterior walls. Additionally, as you travel back through the church, there are several different places reserved for prayer so that parishioners can pray in peace while the tourists visit the rest of the church.
After exploring the Cathedral thoroughly, we wandered around the square surrounding the church, encountering 2 museums, one of which refuses entry without an appointment! Anyway, we decided not to visit the museums because they didn’t look to fantastic and we’d have to pay to look at things like vases on columns.
Finally, we settled on having a cup of tea in front of the Cathedral at a small café looking at the front of the Cathedral. After leaving the Cathedral, we walked down the Ill River for a while, enjoying the scenery and buildings; we saw several buildings which, unbeknownst to us at the time, have histories over a thousand years long.
Among the buildings along the Ill, we saw the courthouse, national library, and more.
We finally found a gorgeous sun-filled park to relax a bit and decide on the next thing to do. After much thought and deliberation, we headed back to Austin’s flat at the same time he was arriving and we decided to take a cruise on the waterways of Strasbourg together.
We followed the boat through Strasbourg to find where it docks where we bought tickets and got aboard. The boat was a glass-covered boat allowing us to see out in all directions except down. While riding aboard the boat, we each got a pair of headphones to listen to a commentary about Strasbourg’s history and about the buildings we were passing by and we realized that Strasbourg has had a pretty funny past, there are all sorts of strange and outright hilarious events through the city’s history.
On the boat, we passed the EU Parliament by boat; we passed through a lock, and even saw a wall that was built across the river to preclude attacks from that direction, in addition to flooding an area near the town, protecting that side as well. We also saw what used to be a prison, has gone through several iterations and is now a school of business administration.
Apparently, in Strasbourg, the half-timber houses are considered more of furniture than buildings because they are easily replaceable. While I found this interesting, it made me wonder if all buildings that would be above furniture on the chain are made of stone or brick because there are a lot of half-timber buildings in the city.
Strasbourg: Closed Until Monday March 28, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Strasbourg , 1 comment so farYesterday we went to the EU building and were disappointed for it is closed on the weekend. However the outside of the building is very interesting. We’re going to try going there on Monday. Apparently you can listen in to the meetings and there are a lot of translators, so understanding the language shouldn’t be too difficult.
Also, we went out to lunch and I ordered an “American”, whi
ch we all thought was a regular burger with a side of fries and Ketchup. The burger came on a Baguette with the fries on top and a hint of Ketchup. Chris and Austin ordered “The Madam” which is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with an sunny-side up egg on top. Interesting menu options.
We were coming back from the EU building and our tram was stopped by a very long parade of handicapped people. I ha
ve never seen that many blind people together in one place before!Today we learned that the EU is not the only thing that is closed on the weekends. All things worth getting a closer look are closed until Monday! That mixed with the soggy weather means that we’ll probably stay inside today. So, for tomorrow we are planning to go to the cathedral (apparently closed to tourists on Sunday).
Strasbourg: Relaxing March 26, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Strasbourg , 1 comment so farToday we lounged around Austin’s house for most of the day. We relaxed and enjoyed the Crepes I made earlier.
Later in the evening we went to a movie with Austin and a couple of his friends from school. We were late because there is a soccer game tonight and a lot of fans were crowding the tram and the stop itself. In the masses there was a man playing a large drum, people with pa
inted faces, and a man in a sombrero with a flag (it apparently was his team’s rival and he was intent on burning it; too bad he was already very intoxicated).
The city is very beautiful after the sun goes down because everything has some sort of lighting on it. So just walking to and from the movie theater was nice, especially since it had stopped raining for the first time today.
P.S. Sorry for the post lacking length but the internet connection goes in and out around here. It’s become rather tedious to write the post today. We’re going to see if there’s a place that has free WiFi near here.
First Day in Strasbourg March 25, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Strasbourg , 2commentsWe met up with Austin in Strasbourg today after taking the TGV from Paris. Despite coming out the entrance we were directed to by the platform of the train, Austin ran around the station to the main entrance, a side entrance, and finally the entrance that we were at. When he finally saw us, he bee-lined straight for us gasping for air while greetings were shared all around.
After saying hello, Austin walked us to his flat, a nice 2 floor place in a nice part of town. Apparently he has 3 roommates and one of them has some friends staying over as well but luckily Austin has 2 beds in his room so no worries about sleeping space, we may even be able to use the more comfortable futons downstairs!
After giving us the grand tour of his flat, Austin showed us a delicious restaurant not far from there where we had lunch. On the way there, we saw the ‘Notre Dame of Strasbourg’, a large, thoroughly intimidating church in the middle of the city. The cathedral is a Gothic style cathedral made of red stone and containing a large steeple off to the left side of the door.
Apparently there are packages that offer great tours of the church as well as a boat ride around the river(s?) in Strasbourg in addition to the top of the bell tower being accessible for free on Sundays so hopefully we will be able to visit it and get a bunch of great pictures.
After lunch, we walked back a different route, seeing many different shops and street vendors selling a large variety of goods. Along the way, we also saw the mall in which Austin does his day to day grocery shopping; apparently there are things that are cheaper to buy in France and sometimes it’s cheaper to travel to Germany to go shopping!
Paris Science Center March 24, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Paris , add a commentWe visited the Science Center in Paris today, also known as Cité des Sciences et Industrie. At 8 Euros a person, it was very worth it, we spent probably 5 hours wandering around, playing with the interactive exhibits and seeing all of the fun things they had there!
We started out looking at their room about genetics, learning about different things relating to genetics and things that we can do with genetics. Some of the purposes talked about included researching effects of diseases and distilling proteins to help treat different maladies such as diabetes.
After learning more than we ever wanted to know about genetics, we headed into an area full of photos, meteor samples, and more! In this room, we found sculptures created from acrylic with lights, a model of a lander, and a series of videos talking about space and exploring it.
While we enjoyed the visuals here, most of the things had no English so we didn’t spend as much time here before moving onto the section about dirt! Well, about earth in general, techniques for building with it, how grain mechanics work, and other interesting information. There were samples of many different kinds of dirt from all over the world along with explanations about what gave them their distinctive colors.
We got to play several games and watch short videos demonstrating grains of sand and other earthy materials behaving as liquid, gas, and solid at different times!
After the earth section, we moved onto mathematics. While it may seem dry, there were plenty of fun exhibits there for us to play with or look at, including a 3D version of tic-tac-toe with 4x4x4 sides. Our game was great fun and complicated enough to last more than 3 minutes.
One of my favorite parts of the mathematics exhibit was a fountain that had a randomness factor built into it, making it so complex that no computer can predict the positions after 2 minutes!
Week In Photos, March 24 March 23, 2010
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Arc de Triomhpe March 22, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Paris , add a commentThe beginning of our day in Paris was interesting. We got off the Metro and found ourselves listening to drums. There was a small band 
dressed in funny colorful costumes. They reminded me of a mix of the Fruit of The Loom characters and superheros (their costumes had fake muscles).Then we went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe via the stairs (284 steps to the top). I had no idea you could go into the Arc de Triomphe so it was a nice surprise. It wasn’t expensive either, only 11 euro for the both of us (again with the paying people to put yourself through the pain of climbing stairs). We were exhausted but only
took one break in the middle (I’m so proud).
At the top it was stunning! The sky was cloudless and you could see for miles (in this picture you can see all the way to the business district/ the hollowed out building in the distance ). We marveled at the traffic, snapped some pictures, and left in search of water and a not-so-overpriced snack (nearly impossible). We settled on baguettes with Jambon (ham), Fromage (cheese)for 3.50 euro each, not too bad.
We have to take a rain check on the science center, since it is closed on Mondays and there will be a Metro strike tomorrow (Jan was saying that around every major holiday they have a strike to get more time off, the strike itself is probably just an excuse). It doesn’t determine the fate of our going to the science center, for the Metro will still be running, but only at peak times.
Parisian Canal Cruise March 21, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Paris , add a commentLooking for things to do in Paris today, we found that there are a few inexpensive cruises through Paris, ranging from Seine cruises to cruises in Paris’ various canals.
The canal we experienced, the Saint Martin Canal, is underground for ~4 kilometers. While floating down the canal underground, the boat projected some history of the canal and the area onto the side of the tunnel, giving us something to pay attention to while we sat in the dark.
Periodically through the canal, there were holes opening into the city above, letting in light and debris (litter). Slightly less often on the underground walls were street signs so at least we still knew where we were and what street we were crossing!
After returning to the top of the streets on the canal, we began to pass through several locks, raising the boat probably 10 meters in all. While neither Tiffany nor myself had either been through a lock before, we can say that no more as we got thoroughly sprayed by the water from the canal (it has never been considered drinking water).
Nearing the end of the cruise, we passed the Cite des Science & de l’Industrie, Paris’ science museum. The building was huge and looked extremely fun, especially the giant shiny ball out front, the Geode. While we have no specific plans yet, we are thinking about going to this museum in the next couple of days before heading to Strasbourg.
