Strasbourg

First Impressions

To get from Saint-Dizier to Strasbourg, we got up about half four, to be on the bus at 5.15. We all slept until the sun came up at about 8. As you head east the place names change rapidly; soon it's as though you're in Germany instead of France, although everything remains French on the road signs and toll booths and so on.

Christmas Market

We got into Strasbourg at 10, and hit the market. It was incredible; hundreds of stalls, around the entire city centre, lots selling lovely hand-made arts and crafts, lots selling food (local specialities, chocolate, mulled wine, bretzels, spices) and (of course) lots selling tacky Christmas crap.

In the afternoon, the market was no longer fun. It had got far too busy, and the five of us kept getting separated. At one point I had to lift my friend Sandra onto my shoulders to look for Lorraine in the crowd. Still, we did go on the first day; maybe it gets less mad later in the week.

Cathedral

We took the opportunity to have a quick look around the cathedral, which is a very different style to what I'm used to. It's built of a pinkish stone, and incredibly intricate - every surface is covered in statues, and not only religious ones but knights on horseback and evil-looking gargoyles as well. Inside, there are huge rugs depicting religious scenes hanging down each side of the nave, and the effect of the light shining through the stained glass windows onto the pink stone is beautiful. Sadly, it was just too busy; we couldn't stop in silence and appreciate it.