Thursday December 4th, 2008
We leave in the evening with destination Hahn and land on time, but we have to wait a while for the car that we booked. Then we go directly to Speyer where we stop to sleep.
Friday December 5th, 2008
We leave and we go to Strasbourg. The weather is cloudy and sometimes it’s raining. We visit the cathedral of Notre-Dame with the astronomical clock. We turn around the cathedral and we reach the Palais Rohan.
Then, back in front of the cathedral, we see the Maison Kammerzell and other timbered houses. We reach the river with the Ancienne Douane and the church of St. Thomas, where there are Nativity scenes from around the world.
We walk in the streets of Petite France, reaching Vauban’s fortifications. Before leaving Strasbourg we stop at the European Parliament (and we enter the courtyard). We stop for petrol in Marckolsheim and we quickly see the town, walking down the main street.
Then we reach Freiburg, and we go immediately to the Munster where we meet with our friend Krista, and we walk with her that shows us the town. Dinner together and then back to the tram stop, and we go to sleep in Colmar.
Saturday December 6th, 2008
We get up early and immediately we visit the center of Colmar: St. Matthieu, Ancien Hopital, the Koifhus, the district Tanneurs, the Krutenau, the Palais du Conseil souverain, St. Martin, the Ancien corps de garde, l’Eglise des Dominicains and different Christmas markets.
We go back to Freiburg and then we meet again with Krista. Now we can see the city by day: the Schwabentor, Munster, the Rathaus, St. Martin and the Martinstor. After lunch we walk a little and we goodbye our friend.
We stop on the border France-Germany to watch the Rhine, then a brief stop in Selestat, before reaching Nancy. While we go to dinner, we see the fireworks. Alsace is very nice.
Sunday December 7th, 2008
We begin to explore the city from the Place Stanislas, still empty, there are very few people around. Then we leave the square, to Place de la Carriere, and we visit St. Epvre. We enter the adjacent neighborhoods: Hotel des Loups, Porte de la Craffe, the Eglise des Cordeliers, the Palais Ducal. We head back to the Place Stanislas and we go to visit the nearby cathedral.
Next destination is Metz, sun is shining now. Even here we visit the most important buildings: Temple de garnison, Temple Neuf and the Place de la Comedie, St. Etienne Cathedral, the Hotel de Ville, St. Segolene, St. Eucaire, Porte des Allemands, St. Maximin, Place St. Louis.
We stop nearby for lunch. We continue to walk through the center and we take the last pictures, and we go to Hahn. It’s still early and then we stop a little in Saarbrucken. Then we leave, dinner at the airport and we come back home. It was a nice trip across beautiful cities of Alsace.
