Europe Day 6: Strasbourg Notre Dame
Awe around the corner
Walking around in a foreign place for the first time, you carry with you an anticipation that the next corner will reveal the extraordinary. And I got this. Cathédrale Notre dame de Strasbourg. That first view is one thing, but then you get close and stand below. It is overwhelming, intricate and massive. It stands over you with the same weight as if encountering the faun of Pan’s Labyrinth. It is just the right height to make you feel dwarfed for eternity. And to think that it has been around for close to 500 years. If it inspires awe now, how could those who walked in its shadow at that time fail to be drawn in?
Walking back to the station, I stopped to stock up on snacks for the last train. It was nice to be back in a place where I could at least make requests in the local language. My French, though conversational, still sounds anglophone and doesn’t always pass the local test. Most people I talked to in Aix would just switch to speaking to me in English. Strasburg let me at least order my baguette and beignets en français, even though I struggle to roll my “r”s in Bonjour and Merci.
