An afternoon in Strasbourg

I got up, went down to breakfast l, hurriedly ate and drank some hot chocolate and nutella on toast and chatted to the Australian guy in my room who came and sat with me before rushing off to the train station.  On the tram there was this middle aged man sitting opposite where I was standing and I noticed he kept looking at me and then quickly looking away when he realised I noticed. I was just standing there watching him looking at me and we kept making eye contact then he would quickly look away again.  I was trying so hard not to laugh. Probably one of those 'you had to be there' moments....

I managed to get an earlier train to Basel which was good because it gave me more time to get the connecting train to Strasbourg. I really confused the lady in the ticket office by saying Salzburg by accident.

Its going to be a very short stay in Strasbourg - just one night, although the hotel is costing me more than some places I've stayed 3 nights. France is going to be a very expensive country. But I'm really looking forward to Paris. Does being in France give me an excuse to eat crepes all day every day?

There is currently a ticket inspectors convention going on in my carriage. There are three of them all just standing in the middle chatting.

When I got to Basel I crossed what I assumed to be the border into France without so much as a passport check and found a seat on the very empty and delayed train.

When I got to Strasbourg it was like 11 o'clock. It was a 5 minute walk to the hotel I'm staying in. I have a very small single room with a bathroom but its got a bed and wifi and that's all I need. And a loo. Thats always good. When I say small I mean small though. I have to sit sideways on the toilet.

After dumping my bags in my room I went for a wander by the river. It's not as enticing as the one in Zurich but it has some lovely flowers hanging on the bridges.

I went into a supermarket to buy some more deodorant and it had a weird no bags allowed policy. You either had to leave them by the door or have them searched on the way out. Perhaps there is a lot of shoplifting around here.

I happened to stumble on the cathedral which is an incredible building. It has a 100m high tower, of which I climbed 66m of to a viewing platform. It was hard work but worth the view. It was a really ornate building too. And the inside and the windows were beautiful. It had a golden organ which I sneeked (snuck?) a picture of.

I wandered back through the shopping streets back to the hotel so I could shower and wash my hair as there is a light show at the cathedral this evening so won't be able to do it then. Now I'm heading back out for a spot of people watching.
Au revoir