Strasbourg, France - A great break just 1.5 hours away

Finally I have time to blog and get my photos in order :) So our Easter was spent in Strasbourg, France which is pretty close to Stuttgart. We decided to take it slow and easy, so only packed on Friday and arrived at 5pm on the same day.

I wanted to go on a short getaway because my dear hubby has been working so hard. It's hard to be self-employed when one can always work and the dividing line between work and free-life becomes blurred. Hence, in order to get him to stop working (literally), I booked ourselves for a 3days-2-night short break.

Alright, the only drawback about this trip was our less-than-satisfactory hotel. We booked it according to tripadvisor.com and it was sooo bad! It was unjustly rated at #2 out of 90 over hotels in Strasbourg and we felt soooo ripped off! Please don't ever go there, Hotel Du Dragon.

The famous Cathedral in Strasbourg. Love this shot that captured the mini-dom in the background too! We didn't bother to go up the stairs of this Cathedral....too tired and lazy. Hah.

My sweetie and his act "tao" expression. How do you like his trenchcoat?

Now, tell me if you see a difference between this Cathedral and the one in Ulm (here). I'm beginning to understand why people say that buildings in Europe look similar after a while.

I like the contrast between old architectural buildings and the modern tram

In front of some beautiful building next to the river.

Like this artistic shot. I find that cities with a river running through them always have this romantic, French-feel about them.

Fachwerkhäuser - There's German architecture for you. Strasbourg lies on the border between Germany and France. Hence, in the past, it used to be the pawn whenever one country wins / loses a war. Atlast, France won the last war, so now Strasbourg is officially French. Not that I'm complaining, but if only people speak a language other than French there! You would think they would be able to speak German, since they are so close to the border? But NO.... When it comes to their language, I think you won't find any other types of people who are more proud of their language than the French! 

Interesting bare trees. If we do come back in late spring, hubby says the trees will be green. That's why we took a photo of them now.

In front of a mega-huge shopping complex. There are so many quirky stores at every nook and cranny that makes shopping fun here! While Stuttgart is really modern and all, esp. since its a relatively-new city, Strasbourg is pretty old. There's a nice mix of modern as well as traditional and old buildings. We found some parts of the city quite dirty too with really bad streets. Somehow it reminded me a lot of Italy.

Overall, we had a great time! Mainly for me! Cos I got to shop! hahah. My "Fashion Consultant", Tina told me that I had to go to this store "Naf Naf" so there I went. They were having a sale so I bought myself another trench coat for more than 50% off and a cardigan. Look at the look of satisfaction on my face!

This is in Le Petite, France (Miniature France). Our hotel was pretty close to this area. That day we were there, it rain and the sun came out like 4 times in one day! That's April's weather for you here.

Finally one couple shot! But of course it had to blur! Still, its better than nothing!

Do you notice some famous icon on the bottom right? Clue: His name starts with a "C". He's real btw.

One of the rare moments when the sun was shining. This building was on the left of the pix just above it.

Left: French Bakery. I so missed my fruit tarts, Mille Feuille! Sadly enough, when we wanted to buy some back to Germany, most of the bakeries were closed and the only ones opened didn't sell them anymore! Paris here I come!

Random shots of buildings that took to my liking.
Extreme right: Don't you think that reminds you of the restaurant "Ratatouille"??? Except that you have a picture of a mouse instead of 2 cooks?

Pretzels and Sauerkraut! This is how you know you're not far from Germany!

Came across this ice-cream parlour near the Cathedral. Great choice to go there!

What do you do in France except kissing? I love the angle of this photo! Ok, this is a bad angle for me, but isn't it great that I managed to capture the German-looking buildings in Le Petite, France.