Strasbourg

Number of kilometers: 970

I would like to begin this post by taking the opportunity to wax ecstatic about the Couchsurfing community. Couchsurfing.org is a website that connects people traveling all across the world with other people who can offer a place to stay. Yes, you are either inviting a perfect stranger into your house or you are staying with one, but there are multiple safeguards in place: but both parties have the chance to vet the other before they agree to anything, and Couchsurfing is a self-policing community, where you can easily see what kind of host or surfer someone has been, based on previous feedback. It is entirely free; no money ever changes hands. Instead, you trade stories, experiences, philosophies, anything you care to offer, or you simply pay hospitality forward to the next person. It is a very simple and straightforward idea, and one that works beautifully.

Soon after arriving in Strasbourg, I found a place to stay in town, hosted by a math teacher Marion and her architect boyfriend Eli. After the awkward introduction where I went in for a hug while she went in for little air kisses on the cheeks they do in France, I was treated like an old friend. We went over to their friends’ house for some drinks and snacks before going out on the town, where I found myself in a circle of eight people all speaking French at one another, most all of it going over my head. After 10pm, we walked downtown, where they were doing an impressive light show on the surface of the aforementioned cathedral, accompanied by a medley of pieces by French composers. The finale was Ravel’s Bolero, in which the cathedral started black as night, and piece by piece was slowly lit in more aggressive colors with the music, until a towering, ominous, 200-foot-tall gothic mass of stone was revealed, only to go pitch black again with the final note. Words cannot begin to describe how awesome the experience was, in the truest sense. Afterward, we headed down to La Petite France, a part of downtown riven and hemmed in with canals, where we enjoyed then nightlife at the Academie de la Biere until 3:30am.

The dizzying view from the top of the Strasbourg Cathedral,
more than 200 feet high.

The next morning. Marion took me for a bike ride around town, showing me a variety of landmarks, such as the headquarters of the European Union. We reconnected with everyone from the night before downtown once more, where we climbed to the top of the cathedral for a panoramic view of the city, and then back down for wine and a lunch of traditional Alsation dishes such as choucroute, flammekueche, and baeckeoffe, which translate as meat, flat meat, and meaty meat, respectively. Strasbourg is in the Alsace region of France, directly on the border of Germany, and is one of two regions that were occupied by Germany during World War II. It is easy to see remnants of German influence in the culture, especially in the food.

Bon appetit!

When I arrived in Strasbourg, I came here not knowing a single person, or even my way around. Because of Couchsurfing, I was plopped right into the middle of a group of wonderful, accepting locals, who showed me around, gave me a shower and a place to stay, fed me well, and even sent me on my way with a pannier full of food. What more could a person want?

It’s been an uneventful few days of riding since Strasbourg. It’s been getting a lot hotter, and that seems to be the climate that’s changing, more than the weather. Further south, every single field, vine, and blade of grass I saw was verdant and happy like it was the beginning of spring; here the fields turn browner, the sun harsher. I can really start feeling the heat by 9:30am.

A lovely waterfall of ruins adjoining one of France's many canals.

I’m now in Luxembourg City, in the tiny little country of Luxembourg. (Ten points if you could find it on a map before you read this.) I haven’t yet figured out why Luxembourg is its own country, and I probably won’t. I do know that the people who live here are true polygots: virtually everyone speaks perfect French and German, and many more speak Luxembourgese, the country’s third official language; most seem to know a fair bit of English as well.

From here I head to Brussels, in Belgium, and I hope to be there by Friday. I’m beginning to worry that I’m not going to make it to Amsterdam in time for my flight home on the 10th, but I suppose I can always just make up some time by jumping on a bus somewhere. Hopefully it won’t come to that. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but I like the idea of completing the trip by bike if I can, even if it is hot as hell.