Friday, July 24, 2015
Well, again my right foot is hurting and I need to take some time to heal it. Today will be a hanging out at our new hotel here in Strasbourg, France. As much as I would rather be out and about in the new city, here it sit or should I say lay.
Yesterday, when we arrived in Strasbourg we were out and about. We always like to get the lay of the land so to speak around our hotel. We did not know it while we were walking but we were in the area known as Petite-France. According to Wikipedia Petite-France is located on the banks of the Grande Ile where it splits into canals. There are a great number of half-timbered houses and baroque sandstone buildings. This are was made up of tanning-houses and slaughterhouses in the middle ages. Now this area is rather touristy and has restaurants and pubs.
Just west of the Petite-France is the Barrage Vauban which was built from 1686 to 1700. It is a few stories high. To me it was like a stone covered bridge for pedestrians. The level that you walk through is also dedicated to art with little sculptural displays set up for you to view.
Another landmark that we saw on our first day in Strasbourg, not far from the Barrage Vauban was the Ponts Couverts or covered bridge. All that remains of the 13th century covered bridge is the three towers that supported the old wooden bridges, according to www.strasbourg.info.
We also walked to the historic downtown area which has been declared a World Heritage Site.
It looked like a wonderful, old, scenic city to explore. I am looking forward to our next week in Strasbourg, France.
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| Texting while riding a bike. |
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Today we are up and about early in order to go to the street fair or flea market. It was called La Braderie de Strasbourg and is the 7th largest flea market and antique fair in France. It brings together 400 exhibitors and luckily enough it is on the last weekend of July when we are here. The exhibitors are under marque tents with tables set up. There are some that just have their treasures out on tarps, etc. Unfortunately for all involved it is a very windy, cloudy, coolish day.
La Braderie has attracted many people to come out and inspect or buy from the exhibitors. There are blocks and blocks and blocks of vendors selling clothing, some antiques, food it is truly massive. Odd point, the wind is wrecking havoc with the vendors. We saw many shoe boxes blowing along the road. We saw a wooden pole affair with glass attachments blow over and break. Felt bad for the vendor because other things in their booth were also blowing over at the same time. Kind of a weird, windy day for an outside market.
I discovered a store with giant, meringue cookies. These ones had an almond flavour and slivers of almond scattered though out. Yum! I mention this because meringue cookies are my favourite.
We had wanted to go out for supper tonight and sit at a lovely outside table and chairs. The weather did not permit such a wonder endeavor, so we ate at home.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Today was another day of rest. I guess I should not have done so much yesterday, walking that is, because today my foot is quite sore again. I am really sick of having a sore foot.
Ken was a dear and made his famous crepes. Inside he put fig jelly which he really liked. He also made a great supper of a cheese/mushroom omelette and fried potatoes.
I am going to work on my quilting blog today and that will be about it. Except I will be icing my foot, etc. Ken has letters to write, etc. He will be busy.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Today is again a day of keeping off my foot. I am sick of this. Worse yet I see no progress when it come to the healing of my foot. I am finding this rather depressing.
I decided I needed to see some kind of professional about my foot, for reassurance if nothing else. We went to a drugstore specializing in orthopedics which is about three blocks from here.
The head druggist looked at my foot and suggested a rather odd concoction. She suggested one-third rubbing alcohol along with two-thirds water, then soak cotton swabs in that liquid. Ken used an elastic type of band-aid to wrap around the soaked cotton which is put on the sore part of my right foot. I was to keep off my foot and keep the bandage on for one hour. Ken looked it up on the internet and thinks that the liquid should be put in the freezer. Along with doing this in the evening I also am using a freezer pack often during the day. I am putting Traumeel cream on it and taking Traumeel tablets. I am throwing everything I could at the sore foot, I need this better.
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| Really good beer! |
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
I barely left the room today. How bad it that? I do not want to risk walking and making my foot worse. It is already bad enough. All I did was walk two blocks to the grocery store, then back again.
I worked on my Diva4quilts blog. I realize I have to have some kind of plug-in perhaps so I can download more than one picture at a time into my post. Hope that is possible because downloading one picture at a time is very time consuming when it is a blog made up of may picures.
Ken is doing computer work, working on this blog. I think we both have needed this respite from constantly doing something. Not that I do not like always being busy but sometimes doing next to nothing, with no one else around is what you need to do.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
My foot is feeling a bit better today, finally. I know you are likely sick of hearing about it but believe me, I am more sick of actually having the sore foot. Maybe the unusual idea of putting alcohol soaked cotton balls on my foot has worked.
I did the laundry today in a Miele washer and dryer, very posh. I washed out a few things by hand. Ken rigged up a way to dry them by the open window. We had hotel hangers without the normal hooks on them so Ken was inventive.
I went to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art about two blocks from the hotel. According to the description www.musees.strasbourg.eu gives this museum it sits on the River Ill in Strasbourg's historical neighborhood. It is a very open space with Mondreon like stained glass areas. It opened in 1998. According to www.toursme-alsace.com this museum houses collections of sculptures, decorative artefacts, paintings and stained glass windows. It gives a good overview of the great art movements: "Impressionism, post-impressionism, art 1900, fauvism, expressionism and surrealism, etc.".
I thought I would start with the upstairs. The galleries were very wide open and almost a bit stark. I found only a few pieces that appealed to my aesthetic sensibility. Sometimes I like what could be termed modern art but sometimes I just do not get it. I need someone to explain it to me. The labels were in French with no artist statement.
The permanent collection downstairs was quite amazing and well curated. Big, informative scripts were painted on the walls for things like the Introduction or the discussion of the different are movements in particular galleries. Sometimes it was hard to find those scripts in order, as they were numbered, so confusion happened a few times.
This museum had the works of greats like Pablo Picasso, Vassily Kadinsky (in fact he had a room dedicated in his honour), Joan Miro, Victor Brauner and Auguste Rodin. Rodin's The Thinker was at this museum.
It was refreshing to see that not only painters were honoured for their artistic ability but also woodworkers, sculptures and stained glass artists.
I personally found that I was most excited by the work of the fauves and the realists. The skill required by both was certainly present in these talented painters. It is such as feeling of awe that you get from being able to walk about and examine the work of such incredibly influential artists.
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| His master's data! |
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Today was the big move from Strasbourg, France to Paris, France. I was sorry to have to leave Strasburg and not have thoroughly explored it. In fact, I feel very badly that I was unable to explore this wonderful city. It's seem to Ken and I though, it was much more important to get my foot better than to do a thorough explore. It was tough slugging from the hotel in Strasbourg to the train station. The sidewalks were interlocking brick and the bumpiness made it hard to pull the suitcases.
The train ride to Paris was restful and rather uneventful, but the train itself inside appeared more stylized in design and some of the other trains we've rode in. On the train I just covered in the dining car that if you order coffee in France you get an espresso. Didn't want espresso I wanted a cafホ Americano, Ken later told me. The highlight of the train trip was a shaved Pomeranian dog. She did not have her head or paws shaved just her body. Her owner transported her on and off the train in a big blue sports bag with her head sticking out, the dog's head that is.
Farmland and fields were what we could see from the train windows as we passed by. Mostly we saw her fields of grain or corn fields so there was a switch of colour from green to yellow. There were also newly plowed fields of the wonderful black or brown earth just waiting to be planted. The fields are divided either by fences or some just by bushes. We saw a few towns in between but the ones we saw look nicely nestled in the rolling hills that followed us for the whole trip of about two hours.
Unbelievably we arrived in Paris, wow! We were excited that we were finally in Paris and took photos in and out of the train station upon our arrival. Next it was off to the bowels of the subway. The only way to get her suitcases down there was Ken carrying them down. There were two subway trips and both times Ken was the way we could get our suitcases up and down the long flights of stairs. It didn't take too long, maybe 20 minutes on the subway system, and we are up in the area close to our hotel, 11th Prescient, only about a block and a half total slug of our suitcases to our destination. Our destination was the Adagio Hotel.
Same chain as we were in when at Strasbourg, complete with kitchenette, dishes to cook with, our own bathroom and amazingly enough, a view of the Eiffel Tower.
After supper we decided to walk around the block, which is rather triangular shaped in actuality. Then we decided to walk to another area where we found what would be called a Glorieta in Mexico. In the center of this traffic circle was a huge black statue. It was Plaza de la Nation.
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| Our room has a view! |
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