Mount St. Odile and Chateau Landsberg

Well, on the last open weekend a lot of students went places but a few of us wanted to see a local religious attraction called Mount St. Odile. It is a monestary at the top of one of the mountains of the Voges. It is part of the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostola.

There is a wall that was built by ancient Celts - 1000's of years ago 5 meters tall.

St. Odile was cured of blindness by drinking from a spring at the site.

We wanted a good hike so we kept on exploring and we came across the Chateau Landsberg, an obviously old castle 'a ways' down the hill from the monestary. We enjoyed wandering around the ruins and exploring what was left of the old structure.

I thought that the negative space between these rocks was really quite interesting. We saw as we ventured down the hill into the forest at the beginning of our adventure. We saw it again at the end of our hike as we went to the warm up in the Monestary with a hot chocolate. There were two chapels full of mosaics that were gorgeous that we went through before we had our snack!!!

One of the most interesting parts of the monestary were the Stations of the Cross done in ceramic set in the rocks below the monestary on the trail down to the miraculous spring.

It was a great day of hiking in a truly beautiful part of the Alsace. : )

Thanksgiving and the EU

It has been a couple weeks but Thanksgiving was wonderful! Everyone here was AMAZING! We had a field trip to the European Union in the afternoon and then everyone got dressed up and we had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving dinner cooked by French chefs. Before dinner we ate appetizers and drank a champagne toast to the holiday. Everyone shared something they were thankful for and eventually we sat down to eat. We started with a pumpkin soup that was divine, then on to the turkey, green beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes layered in cream, and lots of other delicious items. To top it off we had the BEST pumpkin pie I have ever eaten; it was a creamy tart with actual chunks of pumpkin in it.

the Festive Lights of Strasbourg

I have NEVER seen better Holiday lights and festivities than in Strasbourg France.
Most of the towns here in Europe have Christmas markets that are incredible! They have some of the same crap that you see everywhere but they also have some wonderful homemade crafts.



In Strasbourg they have full fledge crystal chandaliers hanging on one street to light the path from one market to the next and to put you into the holiday mood! WOW!
Nativity scene.

The Cathedral with angel lights leading the way.

What is really unique is that every "gateway" to the city has different lights and each area in town has a different "theme."




All in all, if you are lacking in Holiday spirit and or cheer, come to Strasbourg and have some Vin Chaud or Gluwein. I am going to make one last trip to the market tomorrow when the crowds from the weekend have gone home. : )
Happy Holidays!

Paris during a Transportation Strike

No Metro for us in Paris!

Well, we had to take the bus to Paris instead of the "Fast Train" because most of the transportation workers in Paris were on strike in a standoff with President Sarkozy. We left Strasbourg at about 1:00pm on Thursday and arrived in Paris in time for our dinner reservation at 8:30. Unfortunately for us, however, the Milan group had the earlier dinner reservation at the same restaurant and due to the transportation strike, they did not arrive on time for their time slot. We had to walk around outside and see some Parisian night life while we waited for them to finish dining at the Fondue restaurant.

Friday morning we did a bus tour and our masterful bus driver Patrick proved just how amazing he was! Driving in Paris is tricky on a good day, but during a transportation strike it is downright dangerous. Patrick manuevered the bus like it was a Smart Car! He dropped us off at the Musee D'Orsay and we had a lot of fun looking at the amazing collection of Impressionists and Post Impressionists. Through the famous clocks at the Musee that used to be a train station I took a picture of Sacre Coeur which we would visit Saturday morning.

My 3030 class and a few others with an interest in Modern Art then walked across town to the Pompidou. We walked past the Louvre and took some pictures of the Pyramid and front facade.

We made our way to the Pompidou where I was able to get everyone in as a group for 20 euro. I had to ping pong around several different desks and then we hopped on the escalators in the tubes that are visible from the outside and we all explored the collections.

From the window at the Pompidou, I saw the sun setting over Paris and I was able to get this picture of the iconic Eiffel tower and other landmarks of the "City of Love" at dusk.

Several of us found a place for dinner and then we took a cab back to our hotel.

Saturday we went to Sacre Coeur of Montmarte for a tour. About half of the students went with Alan Hing on a walking "Interior Design" tour of the city of Paris. The other half came with me to Sacre Coeur. We walked up the steep hill to arrive at this late 19th - early 20th century Neo-Byzantine structure built for the French people. It is an impresive structure and a wonderful nun showed us around the church and gave us a lot of insight on this Pillgrimage church in Paris.

After Sacre Coeur we had about 5 or so hours to enjoy the city before we met up at 6:15-6:30 to cue for the ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Many students walked up and around the Arch de Triumph. I was with a group and we made our way up to the Arch but decided not to wait in line and climb it. We walked around and took pictures and then went back through the underground passage to the other side of the street. The circle around the Arch is notorious for accidents and terrifying traffic. Several of the students ignored my warning NOT to attempt to cross the street (there is an underground walkway) and did just that. I am thankful they were not squashed like bugs by the insane traffic!

In a previous visit to Paris I took the boat tour around the river and the Ile de la Cite. It was fun and offered wonderful photo opportunities so we timed it around sunset and hopped on the hour boat tour for a mere 10 euro. Below is a photo of Notre Dame with the sun setting over it from the boat. After the boat we had hot chocolate and a snack before the Eiffel Tower experience.

I am consistently baffled by the information that I 'need' to provide to college students! Everyone made their way to the Eiffel Tower close to the time they were supposed to be there but many had not "taken precautions," as they say here in France. I am unsure why I need to tell people when to use the facilities but many seem not to comprehend that I cannot magically make bathrooms appear at will when they personally need them. Alas, group travel has its ups and its downs.

The Eiffel Tower sparkled and after a lot of pictures we took the elevators down and returned to the hotel. Many of us found a wonderful Sushi restaurant right next to the hotel and we ate there and fell into bed exhausted from a wonderful day in Paris.
Sunday, I loaded the bus and we went to Versailles. It was very cold and VERY crowded. We had to jostle for position to see anything let alone pay for souvenirs. It was good to see it but it would be better to come on a day with LESS tourists if that is possible. The bus dropped us off and our guide Celine helped us get into St. Chappelle free of charge since we are History of Art students studying in Europe.

I had told my students that they would LOVE St. Chappelle and that it is a magical place but many filed that in the same place they file most things they hear in Art History class. Several students were absolutely "blown away" by the beauty of this little stained glass masterpiece.

After spending some quality time "taking it all in" we walked over to Notre Dame.
We went immeadiately because we were unsure they would close to tourists. There ended up being a special service at 3pm and many of us really enjoyed walking around this beautiful cathedral while the choir sung heavenly sounding music.

The students I was with needed to eat and so did I as we finished and were ready to climb up the tower they closed the line and ended any thoughts for that adventure. We walked around until we were frozen and I went back into Notre Dame and visited the Treasury to see the sights and warm back up.

The most eventful part of the day was when I had to attempt to speak french to the Police to facilitate our bus pulling over and loading us onto it. The policeman understood enough of what I was saying to flag the bus over and Patrick pulled the half of the bus up onto the curb. We loaded in less than 2 minutes while the Policeman held traffic and we were off! It was very impressive!

Monday we went to the Louvre. It was great but too short! We loaded the bus and headed back to our little castle we call home in Strasbourg! : )

Adventures in Basel, Switzerland

The students have several "Open Weekends" where they are permitted to travel around Europe with at least one of their classmates. My colleague had a trip planned to Copenhagen and I was thouroughly exhausted so I stayed close to the Chateau with the remaining students and did a quick trip back to Basel Switerland. The public transportation system is fantastic in Europe and you can really get almost anywhere you need to go on it!

We visited Basel as a group early in the quarter and saw the Vitra Museum and then had a brief walk about town. Basel is the third largest city in Switerland and is about 37 kilometers but it has more than 40 museums! One of the AiP students, Kate Reynolds, travelled with me and we bought the "Basel Card" which gave us entry or discounts to numerous attractions.

It was rather cold during our visit but there were plenty of indoor activities to keep us busy. We did almost become popsicles on the city walking tour but we did enjoy it thouroughly.

The one thing that we did have trouble with in Basel was eating. Everything was outrageously expensive. The Swiss use the Swiss Franc and it was trading almost equal to the dollar. A bowl of soup was 10-12 CF (Swiss Franc), Pasta 15-20 CF, a "value meal" at a fast food chain 10-12 CF. Breakfast was unavailable to anyone who did not stay at a hotel that offered it for a mere 12-15 CF. I hate to admit it, but starving and cold, we ate at the Burger King : (

I really wanted to check out an excavated Roman village a bit outside of town called Austica Raurica. We took the bus and then walked up to the site. It was overcast and very cold, there seemed to be some sort of a race going on and thus we walked quickly around the outdoor parts and spent time in the museum which housed treasures found at the site. I would highly recommend a visit in the spring, summer, or early fall.

We took the bus back into town and then went to an incredible place in Basel that I am guessing a lot of tourists miss. Kate does graphic design, and I love etchings, engravings, and prints in general. In our museum guide of Basel we found a museum called Basler Papiermuhle. It is a restored medieval Gallician mill house dedicated to the history of paper, writing, and printing. We made paper, learned how letters for typesetting were made, typeset our names, printed them, had our names done in Chinese calligraphy, pressed a wax seal, and pressed an image from a stamp. It was very informative and interactive and I HIGHLY recommend a visit to anyone that has any interest in paper! Below are a few images of what we saw and did.

Other than eating, Basel was a Big Hit with us! I will definately do another day trip to Basel in that there are SEVERAL more musuems that I would really like to see. : )