Strasbourg, France

Strasbourg is a wonderful combination of a French town with some German influences (as it has been controlled by Germany in two separate instances). Founded in 12 BC by the Romans it has a long, rich history and is the 7th largest city in France and is also called the European Capital. It is home to: the coucil of europe, the european court of human rights, youth center, science foundation, and parliment. We started our visit by taking an audio tour of the city. Our first stop was the beautiful cathedral which was the world's tallest building for over 200 years, has impressive stained glass windows and an Astronomical Clock built in 1547. Stasbourg lies on the Rhine and has a picturesque walk along the edge which highlights half-timbered houses, an area dubbed 'Little France', a lock system, the terrific 'covered bridge' and a medieval dam. For lunch we enjoyed some local beer and Tart Flambee a regional Alsatian specialty (which is essentially a poor man's pizza). Our last stop was a visit to the Contemporary Art Museum which featured a special exhibit of George Raualt. Robert's camera battery took a turn for the worse only 30 minutes into our visit, but he was able to take a few photos before the tearful discovery was made ;-)