Strasbourg Revisited: the European Metropole on the Rhine

During the 1990s, I used to visit Strasbourg on a frequent basis, as the city is about 2 hours by train from Freiburg, where I used to live. Beside being a pretty city with an impressive cathedral, picturesque old town with scenic medieval timber framed houses, Strasbourg also offers good shopping opportunities, with many French supermarkets, French departmental stores stocked with French clothing labels available only in France proper, and high-end haute-couture boutiques which make my knees go weak and my bank accounts empty during its summer sales and winter sales periods. Sometimes I even went to Strasbourg with an empty suitcase, only to return with it filled to the brim with French delicatessen and fashion booty from the latest sales in town.

Illy Caffe @ Cafe de I'ill, Strasbourg

It has been almost 10 years since my previous visit to Strasbourg. While still living in southern Baden, I sometimes went to Strasbourg on weekends for shopping, as the French supermarkets are the 8th Wonders of the World and truly worthy of being considered as an invisible UNESCO World Heritage institution. 

Colmar: Picturesque Little Village in Alsace

Bordering River Rhine and sandwiched between France and Germany, the historic region of Alsace has had a very turbulent past. During the 19th and the 20th century, Alsace was the region fought over first by Prussia and France during the Franco-Prussian War, followed by Germany and France during the two world wars.

After 1945, Alsace became once more part of France, but the region has maintained its distinctive historical and cultural characteristics. To a large extent, Alsace has the best of both worlds: the region's towns and villages display an orderliness and efficiency usually known to the Teutonic world, yet they still have that inherent sereneness and colourful celebration of life, which are trademarks of French towns and cities.

Colmar, about an hour by train south of the regional capital, Strasbourg, is a picturesque little town with lots of pretty medieval timber-framed houses and countless tourists throughout the year. Most of the visitors are from across the Rhine, as it is an ideal day-trip destination for those who live across the border in Germany.