November 4th my Art History classes went to the museums which are free every first Sunday of the month. In nice, small groups we walked around the collections of the Museum of Archeology and the Museum of Beaux Arts and talked about the real works of art in front of us that corresponded to the time periods we have covered in class.
I met my Modern class at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art to do the same, unfortunately, there was a strike and we had to leave after only covering about half of the museum. The French really enjoy striking and protesting. It can be inconveinent but at least you can tell that the citizenship cares about issues. (more on strikes when I report on Paris)
Several students had people visiting them and they came to the museums with us.
After the adventures a small group of us went to the local Chocolate shop which specializes in Hot Chocolate - for 6 euro (about $10. at the current exchange rate). Thankfully, at those prices, it really was exceptional hot chocolate and we had a little snack and some wonderful conversation. A lovely day in France!
The Stork is the symbol of the Alsace, until November 8th I had not seen the real bird, only numerous likenesses in every tourist shop in Strasbourg and every other town in the Alsace we visited. The story of the stork delivering babies has significance here in Strasbourg. There is a legend that if you leave 3 sugar cubes on your window sill and they are gone in the morning the stork will visit you with a baby in about 9 months. Further, there is supposed to be a special underground lake under the Strasbourg cathedral from which the storks get the souls of the babies to deliver... - I need to have someone clarify these for me before I leave so I am sure about all of it. Thus far, thankfully, none of the students has left any sugar cubes on the window sill!
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