Strasbourg (why do I tempt fate)

Dramatic skyline reflected in rear of the European parliament building

MONDAY 23 MAY  

When we got up on Monday we weren’t sure whether or not we would go all the way to Strasbourg or have an overnight stop on the way but left early anyway.  We’d been moored at a commercial quay at La Fôret where boats unloaded roadstone and as we left, a guy had arrived and seemed to be checking out the various piles.  Soon after leaving we passed Vogel Gryff laden with roadstone, so we realised that the guy at the quay was getting ready for its arrival.

Roadstone delivery

When we reached Souffelweyersheim we pulled in as there was a handy fuel station 200 metres from the port. It was one of those ports where there was a daily charge which, at this one, was €14 including electricity and water.  We spoke with a couple of American guys who told us that some days a person comes to collect money and other days they don’t.  There was a sign saying that boats could only stay for 48 hours but the Americans said they’d been there for a few weeks as it was so handy to take a tram into Strasbourg.  They did add that they’d left for a night or two a couple of times, but it sounded like they were just paying lip service to the restriction.

I went off to get some fuel which was available at a Renault garage that only had one pump and that was tucked away in the service area for customers’ cars and wasn’t particularly cheap.  As I had a trolley rather than a car, they were more than happy for me to fill up my cans.  I only did one trip thinking we would fill up completely when we get back to Saverne as we’d seen a nearby filling station at regular prices.  It started raining while we were having lunch, so we thought we’d stay put for the rest of the day and walk into the village later in the afternoon.  By the time we’d cleared up and done a few odd jobs, the sun was back out and as it looked like staying that way for the afternoon, so we changed our minds and set off for Strasbourg.

Leaving our lunch mooring at Souffelweyersheim

There was a lock next to the port and a couple of guys were working on the electrics so saw us through.  They were having issues with the lower gates not registering when the lock was empty, and it was funny to see one of them employing Karen’s gate jumping trick to trigger the sensors.

As we approached the final lock before we planned to moor by the European parliament building in Strasbourg I remarked to Karen that we will have come down the 51 locks on this side of the summit without having had to call out VNF once with one issue or another.

Heading for écluse 51

After the lock emptied the bottom gates wouldn’t open and neither of us were surprised because of the comment I’d made.  We were just about to call out VNF when they started opening; it was obviously a very slow lock.  Not only did we think the locks were well maintained we also reflected on the fact that the whole canal was well looked after with very little weed and bank side vegetation and trees kept in check.

We found the mooring we were looking for and it was empty so were able to tie up.  If a boat had been there, we would have had no option but to carry on and moor in the private port further on.  Even though it’s described as a mooring outside the European parliament building there was a new bridge across the canal making it look a less than salubrious place to stay.

It wasn’t so bad looking the other way:

The front of the EU building from the far side of our bridge, sadly lacking a well-known flag but flying the Ukrainian flag as a sign of solidarity:

Rather than doing any sightseeing straightaway we walked into town to visit the tourist office and picked up some information on town trails.  Neither of us had been to Strasbourg before and we were both caught with how stunning the place was and were really looking forward to having a couple of days exploring.  With the temperature forecast to be dropping to the low 20s during our stay it should be ideal for walking around for both us and Buddy.

The other exciting thing about Strasbourg is that it appears to be a city built on water.  Not only are there many large ports built along the Rhine on the east side, there are several canals and rivers crossing through the city.  Probably the most well-known water feature is the area called Petite France which we are looking forward to seeing.  Until relatively recently many of the waterways were open to boaters but nowadays there is only one route through the city with a few exits onto the Rhine; the other routes only open for trip boats.

We came in from the top of the map and moored where the green cyclist is where it says, ‘Palais de l’Europe’. 

Later on, when we were back on board, Vogel Gryff came back past but empty this time as it had delivered its load of roadstone.  We wondered how far up or down the Rhine it goes to get reloaded.    

Looking at our mooring you would think it would have been rather noisy being almost under a bridge.  We were pleasantly surprised how quiet it was during the evening as we couldn’t hear any road noise at all, just the occasional tram rumbling across.    

On Monday we cruised 14 km down five locks through one lift bridge.

TUESDAY 24 MAY 

When we awoke on Tuesday morning we couldn’t believe how quiet the night had been although the trams had started early in morning for the first city workers of the day.  While we were having breakfast a laden cement boat came through on its way to the works we’d passed in Hochfelden a few days ago.  A short while afterwards an empty sister ship came past in the other direction, obviously on its way back after offloading at Hochfelden.

Full & empty

Shortly afterwards, Vogel Gryff came upstream fully loaded with roadstone.  This clearly answered our question about how long it takes to complete its journey as it must have moored up in one of the Rhine ports in the city overnight.  It had then taken on its load and started making its way up the canal when the locks opened at 7.00am.  So, in 24 hours it takes on a load in Strasbourg, cruises to La Fôret where it offloads and makes it way back to Strasbourg the same day.  In fact we saw it pass us again in the evening, empty as it had been the previous evening.

We spent the best part of the day on a self-guided trail we picked up from the tourist office and combined it with walking alongside all the waterways in the city that private boats are no longer allowed to travel.  It wasn't quite all of those waterways as we were able to discount about six kms of them that we'd walked the previous afternoon.  In total we walked 13 km and loved every minute of it especially as the weather was warm rather than hot.  We thought the city was wonderful with amazing architecture and vibrant colours, so much so that I’ll include more pictures than usual and also write fewer words than usual.  

The court of human rights

The river Ill runs through the centre of Strasbourg and after passing the European parliament building it runs across our canal, so we’ll have to watch the flow when we come down it in a couple of days.  The l’Ill runs from left to right in the picture below and our canal from top to bottom.

We’re moored just under the bridge at the top

The 19^th century united reform church is quite an impressive building considering it was fairly close to the cathedral:

United reform church

The cathedral which was built in the 12^th and 13^th centuries:

Notre dame cathedral

Stonework detail on one of the entrances to the cathedral

The square in front of the cathedral

The current chamber of commerce in place Gutenburg was built in 1585 as the city hall.  The square also hosts a statue to Gutenburg, one of the claimed inventors of the printing press nearly 500 years ago:

Place Gutenburg

This 15^th century house had its upper floors replaced in the 16^th century with the ornately carved half-timbering:

Kamerzell House

Here are some of the houses in the Petite France area:

 

 

 

Swing bridge swung for a trip boat in Petite France

Trip boat just locked up one of the Petite France locks

The western end of Petite France was marked by les ponts couverts so we were looking forward to finding these bridges that we thought would be lined with buildings.  Unfortunately, the original wooden ‘covered bridges’ were replaced by a series of stone bridges linking four defensive towers.  Mind you, they were still lovely old bridges and we stopped at a restaurant under one of the towers for lunch.

Some of the towers linked by bridges

The Vauban dam was named after its designer, the famous 17^th century French engineer whose works we’ve come across a few times in the past.  It was built on 13 arcades that had floodgates that could be closed thus flooding the southern side of the city as an additional fortification.    

The Vauban dam in the background and a lock no longer available to private boaters

The houses in the tannery area had open overhanging balconies for hanging animal skins to dry as can be seen to the left of this restaurant:

We found a British post office pillar box and, after hiding the monarch’s cypher, took a picture and sent it to our family WhatsUp group for Victorian post boxes.  Steve was one of the first to respond and could tell from the cap and aperture that it was an Elizabethan not Victorian box.

Elizabethan not Victorian

Our walk back to the boat was along the river Aar which is now only open for water sports but I’m sure we could have got our boat along it.  When we were back almost under the shadow of the EU parliament building, we walked through a garden city sponsored in the 1920s by the philanthropist Léon Ungemach.  It consisted of 138 similarly styled houses on large plots to give an air of space.  Nowadays the land would probably be worth a fortune judging by the smart apartments built around it.

Some of the houses funded by the Fondation des Jardins Ungemach

Having had lunch out we stayed on the boat for the evening discussing ideas on what we’d do for our remaining time in Strasbourg.   

WEDNESDAY 25 MAY 

Having had a few comments about our decision not to go up the Rhine next, I must explain that we haven’t given up completely and will probably head on a canal south of Strasbourg that meets the Rhine 30-odd km further up and have a bit of an investigation.  Failing that, then next year our current plan will be to attack it in the reverse direction by going up the Doubs valley from Châlon-sur-Saône and then down the Rhine back to Strasbourg.  At least, going down the Rhine will be doable but probably at a scary pace.

Activity during breakfast on Wednesday was a repeat of the previous day in terms of exchanging pleasantries with the three commercials on their daily journeys.  We did a bit more sightseeing but took it easier than Tuesday.  We included a walk around the parc de l’orangerie which is one of the popular parks used by the locals.  It was created in the 17^th century as a place for residents of Strasbourg to stroll.  The orangery was added in 1807 and surrounded with flower beds laid out in regimented French style.  The remainder of the park was relandscaped in the then English style of what the information board said was called ‘chaotic’!  The orangery had four storks nests on its roof and we could see young in two of them. 

The orangery and formal gardens

After our leisurely walk around the park, we popped to the Council of Europe building which was near the court of human rights.  The pavement alongside the building was inlaid with plaques like the walk of stars in Birmingham and other cities around the world.  These plaques were brass stars containing quotes of famous statesmen both past and present.

The council of Europe building

We thought the tramways that weren’t shared with roads were well looked after with the greenery rather than tarmac or paving:

When we arrived back at the boat for lunch an old barge was very slowly making its way past.  The occupants told us that they were converting it to live on and it was built in 1924.  The reason for going so slow was that they just had an outboard motor for propulsion. 

During the afternoon we took the very short (110 metre) walk from the boat to the entrance of the European parliament building and had a fascinating self-guided visit.  As well as learning about the reasons for the three EU centres of Luxembourg, Brussels and Strasbourg and what functions are performed at each, there were tangential exhibitions.  One of these was displaying first day covers from member states on the subject of the EU.  A couple of the French first day covers included these two from either end of the UK story:

The chamber

As expected, there were interpreting booths all around the chamber (behind the white panels in the picture above) and it was explained how sometimes chained interpreting would be required.  For example, when Croatia joined, very few of the existing interpreters spoke Croatian.  This meant that the simultaneous translation in the listener’s language may have gone through two or three interpreters simultaneously.  Our interpreter daughter, Catherine, explained later that this is known as a retour and is relatively uncommon and of course can lead to greater inaccuracies further along the chain.  

Leaving through the atrium

We’ll probably cast off on Thursday morning and head around to the southern side of Strasbourg.