Strasbourg, particularly in its old town, looks a bit like the town from Beauty and the Beast come to life. In that way, I should have loved it – its rustic charm evokes the setting of what was one of my favourite childhood movies, beloved because its heroine, like me, was a bookworm. But rustic isn’t my style, generally. And rustic is how Strasbourg looks, but not how it is. The city is a bustling, modern place full of indistinctly marked bike paths that residents ignore, speeding around pedestrians in every imaginable direction while competing with cars for road space. Everyone, it seemed, was in a rush, and I couldn’t sort out where they were so anxious to go. The city isn’t that big, really. There isn’t that much to see and do.
Maybe Strasbourg and I simply got off on the wrong foot. It was, admittedly, never high on my list of places to visit in France. I was open, as I always am, even hopeful, that it would turn out to be a wonderful surprise; the sort of city that made me think, why didn’t I come here sooner? Instead, it made me wonder how quickly we could be back in Paris.
Which is not to say that it wasn’t picturesque. Or that we didn’t meet some truly lovely people who were not careening through the streets as if acting out a high-speed bicycle chase they’d seen in the movies. We ate beautiful meals, mostly comprised of local specialties like spaetzle, which we loved. We sampled local wine, which was a bit more of a mixed bag, but still enjoyable to try. But there just wasn’t much to do, apart from wandering around. The cafe culture in Strasbourg is not the same as in Paris; it wasn’t simple to find an outdoor cafe at which to wile the afternoon away pleasantly. And wandering, aimlessly but happily, was nearly impossible – the bicyclists, again.
Not every destination is for every traveler. I will likely give Strasbourg a second chance, eventually – but I’m not in a rush. An early morning moment on our second day in the city sums up the whole experience for me. I paused, momentarily, to get my bearings, standing next to a sign telling cyclists not to disturb pedestrians. I looked up just in time to see a woman barreling towards me on her bike, shouting at me to get out of her way. It was too much. I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity, but also, I was very ready to head home after that.
Before departing, we stopped in at a bakery to get some Alsatian treats for the train ride. And once again, the local food did not disappoint. The linzer cookie that I was snacking on by the time we pulled out of the station was, by itself, enough reason to return to Strasbourg… someday.
