Strasbourg is beautiful. When I first got here on the train yesterday, it was gray and rainy so I headed straight for my hostel, but Strasbourg made even that walk, which could have been miserable, lovely. I got to watch ducks in the canal and walk down cobblestone streets as I searched for my hostel. When I found it, I decided to spend the rest of the day in, as I had some back-ups to catch up on and I really wanted to take a nap. It was a good afternoon, and I spent some time getting to know my German dorm mate who happened to have lived in Reykjavik for a year.
My full day in the city was very nice, I visited a couple of Strasbourg’s museums and walked through the most scenic parts of town as the sun shown overhead. I started at The Tomi Ungerer International Center for Illustration, a recommendation from Papa, which is a small museum devoted to the work of that great illustrator and rotating exhibition in illustration. It was fantastic. I read several of Ungerer’s books when I was little, and I’ve always loved his style, so seeing original illustrations and sketches was very cool. I also loved the exhibit they had on display upstairs which was about a group of french illustrators who worked with The New York Times. It was incredibly interesting to see this high quality work outside of the context of an article, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for the both the power of that context and the strength of these pieces on their own.
I then headed for The Musee des Beaux-Arts, which was a fairly typical historical art museum. They had a good collection and are housed in a beautiful building right by one of Strasbourg’s major attractions, its cathedral.
After spending my morning in museums I spent the warm and sunny afternoon just walking around this picturesque little village. I went through the area known as Le Petit France, which was charming, but touristy, and La Place de la Republique, which was impeccably manicured and beautiful. I only had one full day in Strasbourg, because I’m planning on taking a day trip to Baden Baden tomorrow, but I really enjoyed my time here.
p.s. I added a couple more photos from today to the gallery.