Strasbourg

On Sunday, April 1st, TLS and I went to Strasbourg, France for the day. We needed to do our Passover shopping, and since shockingly enough, there aren't many kosher stores in Germany, whenever we need specific products, we drive to France for them.

Strasbourg is in the Alsace region of France and is about a 1.5 hour drive from our house. We love going there for day trips and have been there several times already. We parked our car, did our shopping in the Jewish area, and then drove to the main area by the Cathedral. My husband immediately noticed this street sign:

try saying THAT three times fast!

The Strasbourg Cathedral is famous for its Astronomical Clock, which is absolutely stunning. We decided to go see it again since we were in town. Being the token Jews that we are, it completely went right over our heads that it was Palm Sunday. Woops.

Thankfully, since we are far from being morning people, by the time we actually ate lunch and made it over to the Cathedral, Mass had long since ended. I should also mention that going to the Cathedral was a spur of the moment decision, so I did not bring my camera with me. What follows is a series of semi-blurry iphone pictures. (The Cathedral has a gorgeous Rose Window, but after around 10 blurry attempts, I just gave up on photographing it.)

The view of the Cathedral from the street

the most I could get of all of the clock in one single shot

a slightly better view

some of the clock's details

Since it was a gorgeous day outside, yours truly had the brilliant idea to climb to the top of the Cathedral for the viewing platform. The fact that admission to the viewing platform is free on the first Sunday of each month only made it seem like an even better idea. It was only a 66 meter hike to the top! Piece of cake! Insert comment here about how I just had heart surgery less than a year ago and my cardiologist told me not to exercise. Since I wasn't in a gym, it obviously wasn't exercise right? WRONG!

Admission to the viewing platform is done in 30 minute intervals and is limited to 50 people at a time. TLS were numbers 1 and 2. The stairs to the top of the Cathedral are so narrow that there are actually two separate staircases: one to go up and one to go down. This meant that when I started having trouble breathing and my heart rate shot up on the stairs, there were 48 other people behind me that were trapped and had to wait for me to move. I'm sorry y'all. Really I am.

I was glad when we got to the top because at least the views were spectacular.

I had to take a picture when we got back down so that I could look back on it and say "I did that."

 We found a British mailbox by the garage where we parked. I thought it was random so I had to take a picture of that, obviously.

I call this shot I Went to the Royal Wedding and All I Got was this Lousy Mailbox

My Newest Obsession

It is no secret that I have a huge sweet tooth. I love sweets of just about any kind, but have always had a strong soft spot in my heart (mouth?) for caramels. When TLS and I were in Strasbourg, France over the 4th of July, we saw a brightly colored sweets shop that spoke to me. The shop in question is called La Cure Gourmande.

There are a few shops around Europe (I am ashamed to say that I did not see/go into any of them when I was in Paris) and they are easily discernible by their bright, mustard yellow doors/facades. The inside is even more colorful and gorgeous!

Just look at all of those mouth-watering biscuits!

La Cure Gourmande's best- known product- chocolate "olives."

La Cure Gourmande is known for its delicious chocolate covered almonds called "olives" but I am partial to its caramels which come in giant squares and are plain, with sea salt, nuts, dried fruits, or even a strip of nougat in the middle!

I am also a sucker for anything in gorgeous packaging or tins, and this store does not disappoint! Most of their items come ready for gift giving!

Our first trip to La Cure Gourmande was in Strasbourg where we loaded up on sucking candies in darling pink tins, nougat, caramels, and lollipops. The obsession grew exponentially and by the end, I was counting down to our trip to Brussels because it meant another stop at La Cure Gourmande. My last trip there I picked up a few chocolates that got eaten on the spot, more caramels, some caramels as thank you/care package gifts for a few bloggers, lollipops for the two of us, and a gorgeous lilac tin filled with raspberry biscuits that had preserves in the middle. Delicious. TLS has to remind me that there is a store an hour away from our house (in France) so that we (I) wouldn't go overboard in our (my) caramel pursuits.