We are fine, no worries. We had an awful time finding good computersin Strasbourg. But the city itself is gorgeous. This region has been contested betzeen Germany and France forever, it has officially been part of France for some time. This is the Alsace region. The town is surrounded by rivers, including the Rhine. It They are crossed by countless arched bridges. The architecture is a mixture of French and German, and the buildings wind along the river banks, dancing.We visited q nice urban park where crqnes were nssting on platforms built for them. Mozart did a lot of concerts here, and this is where Marie Antoinette entered France to marry Louis XVI. We wandered into a restaurant the first night and would up having the regional specialty, tart flambe. They bake toppings on wonderful flatbread. Kates zwas chicken tarragon, mine was a mixture of potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes with cheese, herbs, and mustqrd. Very fine... and very different from pizza. This town needs a closer look!
So what can I say about Paris that has not been said? I love this town, that is a big compliment from someone who is not a city person. But in summer it is hot, has bad air, and is overrun with tourists. Knowing this we planned a short stop this trip. We do expect to pass through here again.
The Left Bank is fascinating, but tourist city. We had dinner in the Latin Quarter, which is bequtiful, but jammed. What would Sartre say? ¨Hell is other people.¨When you are jammed in an alley in the heat, that makes sense.
We walked by the Seine, out of the tourist district, and found real Parisian gatherings. Parisians love picnics. We found jamming musicians, and places where people were getting salsa,tango, and other dance lessons.
We made our way to the Natural History Museum, which we may visit tomorrow. There is a statue of ¨"one of the giants of evolutionary biology... Jean Baptiste Lamarck.¨Agreed, no argument, but this may be a touch of French nationalism, saying he was as smart as that Darwin dude. We also visited an Arab cultural center, which was very interesting.
There are still book sellers by the Seine, and musicians on Left Bank streets. Shakespeare and Company is a great; though crowded bookstore, home of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, etc. You must see Notre Dame at least once. And you must experience the Paris Metro at least once... you dont know chaos until you do.
More tomorrow. Pardon typos, French keyboards are bizarre.
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