Day trip to Strasbourg

The spectacular Strasbourg Cathedral

There are a lot of parallels between this trip and one I took with my family when I was 15 (right before Grade 10 - just like Zoe!).  One of my standout memories from that trip was our visit to Strasbourg and specifically to the Strasbourg cathedral - I just remember how awe-inspiring it was.

When we were thinking of how to spend our time in the Alsace Region, a return trip to Strasbourg was absolutely near the top of my list. Aside from our quick lunch stop in Heidelberg, it was our first trip into an actual city on this trip (and probably a good ramp up for our next stop in Paris). 

As a family of introverts, we have a strong tendency toward checking out smaller centres and maximizing outdoor time rather than spending a lot of time in big cities. Colmar has been fantastic for this and we’ve really enjoyed checking out a few of the beautiful villages in the area (and there are SO MANY - we had to just narrow it down to a few so we could really enjoy them but there is still a ton to discover in Alsace.

But I’m getting distracted. So back to Strasbourg. It’s about 50 minutes from Colmar, so we had yet another leisurely morning filled with pastries (I got Kugelhopf this time, in my solo market outing while the rest of the family snored away peacefully), coffee and fruit.

Kugelhopf!

We parked at the very snazzy (and expensive!) Gutenberg parking garage, which is about a 2 minute walk from the Cathedral and the heart of the old town. As soon as we exited the garage, the girls immediately spied a century old double-decker carousel….and even cheapskate mom couldn’t deny how cute it was so I got them each a ticket and some pretty cute photo ops ensued.

Very happy girls

Once the girls got off the carousel, we looked around to orient ourselves and immediately spotted the very top spire of the Cathedral so we headed straight to the Place de la Cathédrale. And the Cathedral was just as jaw-dropping as I remembered (almost 30 years ago!). Wow. Brad and I were chatting that we’ve had the opportunity to see some incredible Cathedrals but this one is just so impressive. The single spire absolutely looms over the city and you have to crane way up to see it.

The Strasbourg Cathedral was one of my mom's favourite parts of our 1995 trip so we video called her from in front of it! ♥️

So imposing. Phone cameras just can't do it justice

These huge medieval and renaissance cathedrals in Europe are all inspiring but there’s just something so humbling to think about something that takes hundreds of years to build (over 400 years for the Strasbourg Cathedral) and the faith, optimism and commitment that led generations and generations to collaborate over hundreds of years on a huge scale project.

The ground was broken for this Cathedral in 1015 and it was completed in 1439. It was the worlds tallest building for 227 years and even today it remains the 6th tallest church in the world and the highest still standing structure that was built in the middle ages.

To think that something so enormous was designed, planned and built without any power tools and even PREDATES THE PRINTING PRESS. Humbling.

Because of our arrival timing, the Cathedral was closed for lunch when we got to Strasbourg so we also decided it was a good time for lunch and enjoyed some Italian food at a little restaurant just down the street.

Veal saltimbocca with fresh pasta. Nom.

Full of carbs and energy, we then headed to see the inside of the Cathedral and it was gorgeous. It is so heavily carved and detailed and the stained glass is so ornate. I have to let the photos do most of the talking because I’m running out of superlatives here. It’s incredible and I know our phone photos will completely fail to capture the sheer scale and enormity of the cathedral. But we tried. :)

Intricate detail in the rose window

Solemn and beautiful interior

After visiting the inside of the Cathedral, you won’t be at all shocked to hear that Brad and Rosie immediately wanted to climb to the top. So up we went. 300 steps up the tiny spiral staircase (phew!). 

Twisty, twisty stairs.

More narrow stairs

So. Many. Stairs.

But we made it to the top!

Pretty cool to see the cathedral from above.

Oh yay, please show me how high up I am while I'm going down narrow twisty stairs. Epic.

Can you spot the workers dangling from their harnesses among the flying buttresses?

The top has a sheltered indoor area as well as an outdoor plaza where you can see to both the Vosges mountains in France and to the Black Forest in Germany, which is fitting considering the way this region has been part of both France and Germany over the years.  The trip was absolutely worth all 300 steps up.

The jury is out on the steps down though, lol. At least for me - I often have vertigo issues and the descending spiral staircase was not my favourite thing. I made it though. It was actually a neat trip down because during our descent we could actually see workers harnessed and rappelling down the flying buttresses as they were doing restoration work.  And again, I just have to step back and think about being in a stone structure that was built 600-1000 years ago. 

After our visit to the cathedral, we celebrated with a little gelato and then headed to the Ill river for a tour with Batorama. We were all (okay all but Rosie who is an inexhaustible ball of energy) feeling yesterday’s hike and were happy to have someone else show us around the city for a bit.  It offered a neat perspective (and while the covered boat offered comfortable air conditioning and shelter from a brief rainstorm….it also made for terrible photos, lol. But it was interesting to hear more about the history of the city and see how that history influenced the architecture through the centuries.

Ridiculously photogenic gelato cone

Batorama tour boat - being closed in was great for avoiding the rain but not so great for photos

After our boat tour, we wandered the town for a little bit and then had a delicious dinner of Tunisian fare at L’Odeur du Pays. The restaurant came highly recommended via Google and it did not disappoint - it was delicious!

Alsatian half timber homes

Delicious Tunisian feast

The cathedral looming over Place Gutenberg where the girls rode the Carousel

Tomorrow we head to Paris for the last couple of nights of our trip. Wish us luck navigating into the city - we’ve been honing our skills through the twisty villages and towns all week so we’ll put them to the test tomorrow with the busy Périphérique into Paris tomorrow.  Our visit to Alsace has been amazing - we’ve only been able to see a small sampling of the region but we’ve really enjoyed everything we’ve experienced.