Travel

Located in Alsace just north of Strasbourg, and even in the pouring rain as shown above, Haguenau is a pretty village where you won’t find many tourists. There is a terrific old church dating back to the 1200’s, and the village itself is part of the Villes et Villages Fleuries competition, dating back to 1959, in which each village tries to out-flower and out-green each of its neighbors.

Continuing Part 1 of the series, this is the Rheinbrücke Konstanz (or Rhein Bridge at Constance).  Today nobody gives this bridge much thought  – but hundreds of years ago, after you paid a sizable toll, this would have been your gateway from a dangerous, lawless outside to the safe and Disney-Land-like city of Konstanz.

The armies of tourists that descend upon Konstanz rarely if ever cross or even see this bridge, much less the best part: a hidden alleyway underneath the far side of the bridge (just visible in the top picture), where there is a collection of stunning graffiti artwork painted on the walls.

This is a different view of the island in a recent blog post, but taken from a different angle.  An interesting bit of trivia is that the various bridges (only one is shown here) are known as the pont couverts (which is French for “covered bridge”), even though the covering has been gone for quite some time.

I don’t want to violate any copyrights or trademarks, but if you want to see a really impressive set of photographs of this area, just click here.

This is a picture of a Strasbourg canal, taken from the Grande Île in the Petite-France neighborhood. With all the bridges and blacktop you’d never realize this was an island – and I never realized it either until I looked it up on Wikipedia.

This is also a “best kept secret” of Strasbourg, since it is only just a few blocks from the main train station (Gare Central) in Strasbourg, but in a direction opposite to where most tourists head when they descend upon the city. It is amazing what things you can miss – or find – by simply walking in the wrong direction.

I think it is known as “the shot” of the Taj Mahal, which I took in high summer. You can’t see it here, but it was over 40 C (100 F), and this was the time of year that tourists stay away.

Whether it is the desert in mid-summer or Warsaw in mid-Winter . . . you don’t just save money, but also you get an interesting (or even better) view of touristy places when you travel during the off-season.

It’s just incredible what cameras in mobile phones can do. I took this picture as the sun was setting on the bridge between Ile Saint-Louis (on the right) and Paris (left).

This is the restaurant Auberge de la Reine Blanche (or White Queen’s Hotel) on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris, the location of the terrific short story “Paris is a Bitch” by Barry Eisler.  Of all Eisler’s books, I always thought this story was very aptly named as a double or even triple entendre: it concerns the unrelated trouble and violence encountered in Paris by an assassin, just prior to him terminating a long-time romance.

We take it for granted that buildings have frontsides – and that the front façades are somehow meant to be the most impressive.  But this is the backside of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, and in my opinion it is far more impressive and enjoyable to look at than the front side.  And what’s more: this great view is perhaps rarely seen or enjoyed by the armies of tourists that stop briefly to visit then move on.

I have a few more examples where the hidden backsides of things are more stunning than the visible front sides, which I’ll post as time permits.

This photo of the Saint-Étienne de Metz cathedral in Metz isn’t too bad – but it’s not great either. It’s just darned hard to take good photos of big buildings using mobile phones. I wonder if this is something modern architects are aware of and try to account for in their designs?

Of all the cathedrals in Europe, I think this is one of the most impressive I’ve seen. They all have flying buttresses and ornate features, but this one – and others like it in the region – are all made of a very light-colored stone that comes from this part of France. Apparently, the yellow color is due to a high iron content in the stone.

When it’s summer and the sun is shining, it is hard to find prettier villages than those in Europe.  But as you’ll probably see in a few months, when it’s cold and rainy, those same views become quite dreary and depressing.

Thionville (pronounced “tee-own-vee”) is a French village along the Moselle river and just on the border with Belgium. It’s a small village, and because there are no tourist attractions, you’re not likely to find any tourists here. There was some heavy fighting and a lot of casualties during WWII, so there are a lot of historical markers everywhere – but that’s it.

Is it just me, or do other people also enjoy spending time in normal places, without any tourist attractions, where everyday people grow up and spend their lives?

You can find more information about Thionville in Wikipedia – but it’s so boring, even Google won’t return this link on the first page when you search for it!

Metz (pronounced “mess”) is a wonderful old city in the northeast corner of France, in the part of France known as Lorraine. It was here that, in the 8th century, the famous religious chanting of the monks – known as Gregorian Chant  – was developed.

One thing I find so wonderful about this magnificent city is that the only tourists you will find here are French tourists. It’s generally off-the-beaten-path for world travelers, so the only people you’ll see enjoying the sights are likely to be other people from France.

Another thing I find so wonderful are the buses, which I think are among the most unusual buses in the world. They are very long and composed of many cars and they look just like trains, but they move on rubber wheels.

You can find more information about Metz in Wikipedia.