The day was spent looking around Strasbourg. I had gone into the town with Amandine the night before so i had already had a look around, but the town in the day was oddly much more impressive.
It is a beautiful place. Full of charm and character. It sits right in the middle of the Alsacian region, which means that the people who live here have a very high German influence. That is mainly because for the pas????t few hundred years the region has been juggled between nations and kingdoms. As a result, the mischling (to use a very appropriate German word) culture that has come of that, is both very strong and very fiercly protected. People always talk about themselves as Alsacians, as eating Alsacian (not german or french) food, and speaking a dialect that is known as Alsacian. Its simply a cultural melting pot.
We went into La Petite France, which was really nice, this is the really old part of town, it has a lot of restaurants and stuff in it now, but retains some old authentic charm. But the centrepoint of the town is by far the cathedral. This is overwhelming. I hadnt noticed it so much the night before in the dark but it is breathtaking and huge. It is one building that you can help but wonder how exactly they built it. It also has turned a really interesting shade of orange, i dont know exactly why, maybe the stone they used, the weather conditions or whatever, but it has this sort of dark orange red glow about it, ive never seen that colour before, its like a really dark rust. Underneath the cathedral live a series of restaurants, bars, shops and an array of street performers and painters and things. It makes you think of the time when the church was the real centre of the town, and everything was done around it, i can see this was the case here, and pretty much still is now.
We had a good look around the city, and went back to the hotel to chill out for a little. I am lucky enough to say 'amandine was picking me up at 7 and we were going back to hers', but unfortunately this was only a dinner date. Haha. We had the best time that night. We ate fantastic food, cooked by Greg, and drank Australian wine, which Amandine bought in Australia and was looking for the right opportunity to open. We talked and talked, laughed and caught up. We went on the net and looked for any of the other Rugby World Choir members, who are often on, chatting away, on the net. We found Masashi, the Japanese singer, and another good friend. We spoke to him too and had a great time. It was such an enjoyable night. As i said, i dont think there is anything better than catching up with good friends. This was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.
Paz