Somehow, I Keep Ending Up in France

I've now officially been living in Germany for over a month.  But I think I've seen more of France than of the country which I am currently inhabiting.  I still haven't properly explored Stuttgart (actually, haven't explored it at all, let alone properly.  I don't think one coffee at a nice café and repeated trips through the main station really counts...), but, hey, I have eleven more months to do that, right?  Although, this is coming from the girl who lived in Dunedin for six months and never made it to the Otago Peninsula, which is a mere 20-minute drive away from campus, so anything is possible.  BUT, my excuse for the moment is that I should do my traveling while the weather is nice.  Because one the weather turns, all I will want to do is hibernate, and it will be much easier to summon the energy for a twelve minute train ride to Stuttgart than it will for an extended commute elsewhere.

With the forecast for this past Saturday demanding a day spent outdoors, Laura and I decided it would be the perfect day for a trip to Strasbourg.  I should probably say a bit more about Laura; she is also working as an au pair near Stuttgart, but has been here since November.  She was an architecture major, she's from Austin, Texas, and we became good friends quite quickly.  On account of her longer time here in Germany, she speaks German pretty well, has mastered public transportation, and actually possesses a sense of direction.  I don't actually know what I bring to the table during our trips, but she keeps traveling with me so I won't bring attention to that just yet.

Laura and I on the train.  Look, the sun was out.

Strasbourg (as the title of this post suggests) is in France, just over the German border.  On the slow trains (much cheaper tickets prices...) it takes about three hours to get there from Stuttgart. That is about as far as I would be willing to go for a day trip; any longer than that and you're wasting too much time getting to and from your location to justify the time and expense.  In this case, the travel time was absolutely worth it, as Strasbourg is lovely.  It was everything that I thought Paris should be: quaint, clean, beautiful, and so obviously European that it almost seemed an exaggeration.  Bridges, cobblestone streets, flower boxes, street side cafés, cathedrals...you name it, this city has it.

As usual, the highlight of my day was the food.  We chose another adorable French café, and sat outside enjoying the gorgeous fall day and a lovely view of the river.  Laura ordered tea and a salmon sauerkraut dish; I had quiche and espresso (shocking, I know.  I must also say that France has Germany beat so far as coffee quality is concerned).  Everything was amazing, as usual, and served with a side of French bread, as usual.  I'm pretty sure that I am indeed ruined for bread when I return to the states (which is a GOOD thing...assuming that I don't have to be rolled off of the plane once it lands in Chicago).  

Yeah, I've become one of those people who takes photos of their food.  I would maybe feel bad if I wasn't too busy remembering how delicious it was.

We also went back to the fancy French tea store, Kusmi.  I bought more tea, even though I rationed what I bought in Paris so much that I only drank one cup of it in between Paris and Strasbourg (God forbid I should run out).  I am also now officially a tea snob in addition to my previously established coffee snobbery as I bought looseleaf instead of the bags.  Hot beverages are my weakness, apparently.

After that, we were all set to explore when we happened to stumble (literally...I tripped down the steps) upon this tiny, hole-in-the-wall gelato place.  Naturally, once we were inside, we had to get some (it would have been rude not to, and it was super cheap...less than 2 EUROS).  Laura chose cherry, I chose mint chocolate chip.  It was divine, and I am not ashamed to admit that I nearly wept when it was finished (I did refrain from licking out the cup though, as we were in public and I didn't want to embarrass Laura.  I'm regretting that in hindsight though...).  

Once I recovered my composure, we wandered about the city.  We saw the impressive Strasbourg Notre Dame, resisted the smells of a lot of bakeries, and window shopped at the many expensive stores littered throughout.  

The Notre Dame of Strasbourg

Such a shame that autumn comes at the price of a winter.

It rained all day on Sunday, so we binged on Netflix and tried to make quiche.  It was good, but we accidentally bought pizza crust (didn't I say that Laura knows German?...) instead of the flakier pie/pastry crust that quiche is meant to have.  Laura was a bit dismayed; I actually really liked it that way (must be missing my Giordano's back in Chicago.  I renamed it "quizza" and it will go on the menu of my future restaurant (along with the "squawking taco"...everything on the menu has to have a lame name that I find hilarious).

So, there's my most recent weekend!  I cannot believe how quickly time is passing by...I'll be checking out the Christmas markets before I can blink, and then the next thing I know, it will be summer and then I'll be packing my bags home to Chicago and trying to find another adventure.