Strasbourg, Germany Photo by Erica Simone
Parler Paris Nouvellettre®
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010 • Paris, France
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Dear Parler Paris Reader,
Instead of picking up a rental car at one of the train stations as usual, I tested an inner-city rental location for Europcar on rue de la Roquette. I can’t be sure, but think it’s less expensive than an airport or station pick-up.
And no, I wouldn’t say that it was superior to the train station, as after checking in and signing a zillion documents, we were sent down a dismal driveway to a garage where we waited a long time for the car to be detailed before getting in and driving away. While we were waiting we had a chuckle over the Europcar ground hostess smoking a cigarette in the garage where the words “Defense de Fumer” (No Smoking) were painted on the wall in 2-meter-high red letters. No one seemed to care or notice, but us.
The hardest part to any driving trip outside of Paris is always just getting out of town. Maneuvering Paris streets and traffic signals and patterns to find your way onto the Autoroute is forever a challenge. This is when you start to wonder why you didn’t take the train to begin with.
There were many reasons for that, actually. Among them was to have freedom to go where we wanted – perhaps make a stop at the new Centre Pompidou in Metz on the way and for certain, have an afternoon at the Caracalla Spa in Baden-Baden (Germany) the next day.
It wasn’t a good day to have planned for a road trip considering that for the six hours spent in the car were in constant snow and on lots of icy patches. The roads, for the most part, were amazingly well taken care of and snow-free. Traffic moved a little slower and clearly more carefully, but stayed at a good pace. Not much time was lost, but it was tedious…and not conducive to stopping in Metz for a leisurely time at the museum…so we opted out.
The fields from Paris to Strasbourg were solid white with the flaky stuff, something I’d never before seen in France. The trees along the A4 Autoroute were so snow-covered that they looked like Christmas trees sprayed with that kind of white flocking that copy the look of the real thing. It was a surrealistic vista — the horizon line was invisible blending the fluffy fields with the white snowy sky. Magnifique!
Spanning across the highway, the “Arche” rest stop was filled with other travelers doing just what we were doing – lunching and making a pit stop. The stop offers a choice of a sit-down full-service restaurant, a cafeteria serving hot meals (and wine, of course) or packaged sandwiches and things. This in itself is so characteristic of the French culture – no MacDonald’s, no Wendy’s, no Kentucky Fried Chicken on the highway – instead a place to really rest, take a break, eat properly/correctly and move on in a relaxed manner. (Don’t expect the quality to be ‘gourmet’ – but that would be too much to ask.)
As we pulled up to the “ Hotel Centre” at number 1 Quai de Paris in guess what?...Le Centre, of course…we saw an elderly man slip on the ice and hit his head to the point of bleeding badly. He was helped immediately by hotel staff while we moved the car down the street to allow for the medics. They came in only a few moments. Even that was impressive. This was our introduction to Strasbourg – stepping around a bleeding man to enter our hotel in freezing snow. What a day!
Parking the car is one of the disadvantages of driving into city centers. Luckily the hotel is so ‘central’ that there is parking very nearby at Place Kléber. It’s the largest square at the very city center in the heart of the commercial area and was named after General Jean-Baptiste Kléber born in Strasbourg in 1753. There is statue of him in the square under which is a vault containing his remains.
Central Strasbourg is a retail wonderland. The shopping district is huge -- The stores consist of all the big chains plus a few independents. At 6 p.m. on the Tuesday after Christmas people were still shopping like mad, us included.
Dinner was in a tourist-type Alsatian restaurant in the Quartier Petite France that is not worth recommending, but hit the spot with a “Tarte Flambée, also known as a “Flamenkuche.” The streets were icy, quiet and stunningly beautiful. The half-timbered houses looked like a Disney movie set for a German fairy tale under the heavy snow and soft lights. The snow continued to fall.
Erica experimented with a new Hipstamatic App on the iPhone capturing a unique view of the Petite France district of Strasbourg and from our hotel window, because it’s so ‘centre,’ we have a lovely view of the river and landmark buildings, along with the tram that snakes through the city.
Today we are heading out for a visit to the famous morning Christmas Market and then will drive to Germany for an afternoon and evening at Baden-Baden where we will partake of the waters of the Caracalla Spa . Erica insisted on bringing a bathing suit, but I expect we’ll be in our ‘birthday suits,’ instead.
Until next year…have a very happy new year no matter where you are.
A la prochaine...
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
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P.S. For those of you in Paris, don’t forget that we are celebrating Les Galettes des Rois at the Parler Parlor French-English Conversation Group on January 8th (scroll down to learn more or visit http://www.parlerparlor.com and also mark your calendar for 1/11/11 when we meet for Parler Paris Apres Midi to meet other readers like yourselves: http://www.adrianleeds.com/parlerparis/apresmidi.html.
