Strasbourg

I still have almost 3 weeks of work before starting my summer vacation. This year I do it the typical French way and have August off. Because of the shorter vacation time and the fact that I spent 7 weeks in Finland due to the corona, I won't spend this summer with my family and friends back there. Instead, we plan to visit some different places in France. I have hardly visited other towns outside Paris even though I have already lived here for quite some time. So better do it now that I still am here.

Last Tuesday was Bastille Day, the French national day. That obviously is a free day for everyone and H thought he could also take the previous Monday off, as well. What a good time to check one town in France! Because we hope to head to the sea when we have some proper vacation, we decided to go to the East this time. We both had been in Strasbourg once before, but since neither of us remembered too much of it, we thought it is a good destination for an over-night visit.

Sitting 3 hours in a train from Gare de l'Est to the border of Germany could be a bit more pleasant if you didn't need to wear a mask all the time but that's how things are here now. Strasbourg itself seemed more quiet when it lacked tourists that I imagine usually fill its streets. Now there were just some French and German people and randomly people from UK or other European countries. We didn't complain because it meant shorter lines to churches, boat cruises and ice-cream kiosks.

Strasbourg cathedral

The square in front of the cathedral was one of the places that
actually had quite some people already.

Saint-Pierre Le Jeune church

The cloister yard at the Saint-Pierre Le Jeune

Petite France quarter

We took a cruise on the canals of Petite France and Neustadt.

European Parliament

We ordered popular dishes of
Strasbourg: tarte flambée and
choucroute (Sauerkraut in German).

The city of Strasbourg was lovely with lots of flowers, churches and the river. Surely worth of visiting but I wouldn't stay there for many days. A weekend trip was just good. It was nice to get somewhere else for a change. Paris offers a lot but when you live here, you kind of get blind to many things that you might otherwise find interesting. Every now and then I have to remind myself that I actually live (almost) in Paris.

This view on my way to work (when cycling) always brings me
back to the fact that I am in Paris.

Many Parisians enjoy the life normally already and the safety distance
is neglected when you can dance next to Seine. Wearing a mask is
mandatory in the transport and since yesterday also in stores, but
otherwise life is more or less back to normal here.

The summer here has been quite good for now. Temperature has reached 30 for some days but luckily we have had cooler days and weeks in between, too. One thing I really really wish now is rain. I don't remember when it rained here but it must be over a month, at least. Our lovely garden is changing from green to yellow and all the leaves in the bushes and in the tree look so poor. I am afraid the leaves would fall down because of the dryness, like last year... We carry water for the bushes almost daily but I don't know how long that would be helpful if this continues. Soon the only green things on our garden are the flowers and herbs we are growing.

Our poor yard is in a desperate need of a proper rain...