6/21/2017

La Petite France: Strasbourg, Alsace Region, France



Welcome to Strasbourg, France! This is our fourth country on this month-long journey with J. Christina.  Currently, traveling along the Rhine and Moselle rivers with Uniworld, onboard the River Queen.  Strasbourg is the capital and largest city of the Grand Est region of France, and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Strasbourg is located close to the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace. We find the  Alsace region to be filled with impressive cities such as Strasbourg, Colmar and Mulhouse.

We arrive onboard Uniworld's River Queen, gliding in on the longest and most important river in Europe, the Rhine. Our ship sailed overnight from Speyer, Germany reaching Strasbourg on Thursday, June 22, 2017.  The Rhine river has huge economic activities, as it is indeed the most developed and active part in Europe with industries of all sectors. No other river in the world has so many old and famous cities along its banks: Basel, Switzerland, Strasbourg, France, along with Worms, Mainz and Cologne, Germany - to name a few.

We start in La Petite France the most picturesque district of old Strasbourg. Especially the Maison des Tanneurs, where fishermen, millers and tanners once lived and worked in this part of town. The magnificent half-timbered houses date from the 16th and 17th centuries, where sloping roofs open-out onto lofts, where animal hides were once dried. This district is filled with stylish wooden houses adorned with colorful flowers, gabled roofs, and chimneys - sometimes topped by stork nests.
Scribbles and Smiles by J. Christina
La Petite France - half-timbered houses along the historic canals
The city center, the Grande Île,  was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988, the only time such an honor was placed on an entire city center.  Strasbourg is immersed in the Franco-German culture but has been in a tug-of-war throughout history. The city is a cross-cultural bridge for France and Germany, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second largest in France. And where the Cathedral of Strasbourg is the second most visited after Notre-Dame in Paris.

Scribbles and Smiles by J Christina
View of La Petite France, Les Ponts Couverts and the Strasbourg Cathedral spire from Le Barrage Vauban

About J. Christina:
J. Christina is the author and hobbyist photographer behind  Scribbles and Smiles, writing a personal travel blog from the Midwest. Christina (Christie) is married to John, a.k.a. Mr. Christie. Where Mr. Christie is right on-board with their travel jaunts around the world - sharing in their blogging endeavors. He supports, encourages, handles gadgetry and embraces the role of in-house editor - hence, their bespoke pen name, J. Christina.

J. Christina’s blogging journey began before the word blog was trending, writing about European travel destinations on share-sites, forums and online journals. After many years of intrepid travel, they thoughtfully opened their treasure-trove of European travelogues, artfully sharing with a worldwide audience. Intentionally sharing the joie de vivre through their words and images, so others can travel vicariously. J. Christina believes smiling with your eyes is a beautiful thing.

You can read their most recent dispatches from aboard an elegant European river ship, sharing the allure of Europe’s great rivers and their capital cities. Or, follow them through serendipitous discoveries in the Cote d’Azur, where J. Christina captures the essence of a perched medieval village.

J. Christina’s work has been featured on France Today, Bonjour Paris, The Good Life France, and Perfectly Provence.

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