A full day in France, Part Trois - Strasbourg

We were exhausted by the time we reached Strasbourg and my camera battery died in the first twenty minutes.  The biggest city of our Wine Route tour and capital of the Alsace Region, however; this would be our shortest visit of the day.  We walked along the canals, saw the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg, Ponts Couverts (covered bridge), Petite France, and attempted to have dinner on a bridge overlooking a canal.

We entered the city through the Barrage Vauban overlooking the Ponts Couverts.  The view from here is beautiful, although, it appeared as though the weather was going to take a formidable turn for the worse.  From the covered bridge, we continued into the city en route to what we thought was the Notre Dame Cathedral.  Maps were hard to come by, but we enjoyed our aimless stroll through the serene city.

Ponts Couvert, cloud cover minimal

Area near Petite France, ominous clouds blanketing the sky

Ten minutes had passed and it didn't seem like we were heading in the right direction, albeit, we could see church spires ahead.  The closer we got to the church we realized we were in the wrong location, but there was a tourist stand across the street.  Julie went to grab a map while I marveled at a man wearing a Tim Tebow jersey on the church steps smoking a cigarette - I am 3.15% sure it was Jesus Football.  After locating our street coordinates, we changed our course towards the Cathedral of Our Lady (Notre Dame).  When we arrived at our destination it appeared as though my camera battery was on Hospice care and conditions were worsening.  Pictures would have been great because the massive Gothic structure was remarkable, inside and out (sans some scaffolding).  Our legs were growing tired after a full day of travel, but we were determined continue.

Cathédrale Notre Dame

Inside Cathédrale Notre Dame

Pressing on, we lethargically made our way to Petite France.  Walking the cobble stoned streets lined with half-timbered homes and crossing bridges decorated with flowers - indeed this was a petite version of what we had seen during the previous nine hours.  Before heading home, we decided to have dinner on a bridge overlooking one of the canals.  However, after we placed a drink order, some ominous Nimbostratus clouds crept in the distance.  We waited, and waited, and waited - thirty minutes had passed and still no drinks.  The restaurant was overcrowded and understaffed, luckily, our waitress understood why we canceled our order and apologized for the inconvenience.  We made our way back towards the car, but the Nimbostratus clouds converged with our path.  We had no umbrella and as the rain came down we had to strategically move awning to awning - occasionally admiring a restaurant menu.  

inside Cathédrale de Notre Dame

Cathedral organ, last picture as camera died

We soon stumbled upon an establishment representative of a good olde-fashioned tap house.  Sure enough, there were approximately 20 French, Belgian, and German beers on tap and burgers on the menu - a great place to drink and drip dry.  The storm passed over while we dined and our tour of the Alsace Wine Route was complete - a delightful, yet, draining day.

Petite France, bridge where we attempted to have dinenr

Strasbourg street/water rat, better known as muskrat (or possibly a small coypu)