Strasbourg

Our trip along the Rhine continued through Alsace.  We quickly discovered the adopted symbol in this region is the stork.  I loved this example perched atop a Christmas markets chalet right outside the cathedral in Strasbourg.

Inside the cathedral, constructed entirely during the Middle Ages from the 12th to 14th centuries, is an amazing astronomical clock.

At 12:30 every day, all of the automatons are put into motion, but we were too early to see it on our tour, so we just got this little taste of it.

The Christmas markets in Strasbourg were beautiful and quite extensive.  We took a tour in the morning with a guide, returned to the ship for lunch and then took a shuttle back to the markets in the afternoon for some more snooping.  This is my favorite picture of my mother from the trip, all smiling and for once not having to hover under an umbrella.

This is supposed to be the largest outdoor Christmas tree in France.

Below is a bakery (named Christian) we discovered that had the most amazing creations in its windows. We found quite a few places in Strasbourg that allowed us to indulge our sweet tooth.

As always, I was enthralled by the architectural details I spotted and captured the following with my camera.

It's obvious my fascination with signs continues.  I love these shop signs I keep seeing in the old town centers across Europe, the ones crafted from metal and painted.  They're simply beautiful and so very different from gaudy modern ones.  I would love a coffee table book of old European shop signs. Somebody needs to get on that.  Or maybe I'll just add it to my post-retirement bucket list.