Boundless Horizons

Day 6 – Sunday in Strasbourg

Today was our only full day in Strasbourg. While we had a rough outline of what we wanted to do, we also wanted a day to relax before reaching Disneyland Paris on Monday!

We had a little bit of a lie in after our early start on Saturday, and took the tram along to Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg. One thing we hadn’t realised ahead of time is that the trams and buses are free on Sundays – I haven’t been able to find any information about this online, but I grabbed a screenshot from the app. I don’t know if this is every Sunday or just this one.

The building is beautiful! The height is very imposing as you approach – this was the tallest building in the world from 1647 to 1874. Once you get closer you can see the architectural details. Inside is every bit as impressive, we spent some time wandering around. Access to the tower costs €8, and involves climbing 330 steps. Since we only had one day in the city we opted not to do that – plus I still remember how my legs felt like jelly after walking back down the tower at La Sagrada Familia, and that was with an elevator taking us up!

We were getting hungry and I’d read Hey Mama has the best brunch in Strasbourg. We love a good brunch so we had to try it! At the weekends they serve a set menu with a hot drink, a cold drink, a savoury dish, and a sweet dish per person. It’s pretty popular and we weren’t able to get a reservation in advance, but it’s not far from the cathedral so we thought it was worth trying. We were in luck as they were able to fit us in! We both ordered mimosas, I had a much-needed coffee and Rhys had a tea. We both had a Mama Benedict and a Hot Brookie, the food was absolutely delicious. The flavour combinations were unusual and really worked. If we ever come back to Strasbourg, I’d make a point of coming here again.

The Strasbourg tram system actually runs all the way to Kehl in Germany. After visiting Switzerland, Italy, and France already, we thought it would be fun to pop over the border to add a fourth country to the trip! It had been raining all morning so while I wanted to walk over the border, we opted to take the tram all the way there. As we went over the Rhine, the tram played a little chime and the announcements switched from French to German! It was still raining pretty heavily so we grabbed a drink at the bar and hoped it would clear up.

Unfortunately, the rain was here to stay! After coming all this way, I really wanted to walk across the bridge over the Rhone back to Strasbourg. We decided to just go for it… and we got drenched! It felt like the rain got even heavier as we crossed. Fortunately the Port du Rhin tram stop had a shelter where we could get out of the rain while we waited.

Originally we were going to go back to the hotel to dry off, but we really wanted to visit Château Vodou which is open 2pm to 6pm. The museum is housed in an old water tower dating back to 1878 and is home to the largest collection of western-African vodou objects in the world. Admission is €14, and there’s an audioguide available which you play on your own device so bring some earphones! I didn’t have any with me, but Rhys let me borrow one of their earbuds to listen in. There is also a PDF version where you can read the audioguide content if needed.

The permanent exhibition is “Vodou: the art of seeing differently”. The collection is fascinating and takes you through the key concepts of vodou (also known as “Vodoun” in Benin, “Vaudou” in Haiti, and “Voodoo” in Louisiana). It is well worth a visit if you’re in Strasbourg and looking for something different to do.

After our visit to the museum, we headed back to the hotel to change for dinner. We’d made dinner reservations at Maison Kammerzell, housed in one of the oldest buildings in the city, dating back to 1427. We had a table in the cellar which features murals added in 1904 and it feels like being inside a Disney castle. I opted for the Coq au Riesling, while Rhys had a steak. For dessert, I had the chocolate-apricot eclair and Rhys had a Coupe Dame-Blanche (vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream). The food was good and the atmosphere was great, it’d be worth visiting for the history alone! The walls along the stairway are lined with photos and autographs of the celebrities who’ve visited over the years, they have quite the collection.

The restaurant is beside the cathedral and it had finally stopped raining so we could appreciate our surroundings! We were finally able to take a stroll through the streets and take in the architecture. Lots of photos later, we headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for tomorrow’s train to Disneyland Paris.