Longing...

If you are longing for faraway places, Strasbourg is the place to be! Although we only have a tiny (5 gates) international airport, you can fly to Greece, Morocco, Turkey... By direct train, to Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Italy, Germany... By bus, pretty much anywhere in Europe and Morocco. By boat, some river cruises go to the Netherlands, Venice, Romania, Russia. Hitchhiking, a local guy went round the world, in 5 years... Kudos to him.
I took this photo above, arriving in Skopje, Macedonia. Alexander the Great Airport.

Belonging

Where do I belong? Intriguing question at first... But the answer is quite obvious to me. I sometimes define myself as a constant traveler. My answer to this question would therefore be: on a train, on a plane, on an automobile, going around the...

Goa would be nice right now!

Theme day: belonging

Immigrants. Where do they belong? Not on the street. Not in camps. Not outside in the cold. No, they belong in our home. In John Le Carre's words: Home's where you go when you run out of homes.

More about this theme here.

St Laurent

An older photo, published on several websites before. The St Laurent chapel (1495-1505), used for adoration, weddings and funerals of parishioners.

Rock star!

Carrying on with my little series about, may I introduce the minstrel, the true rock star (pun intended) of his time! A bearded bard!

Skywatch Friday

Early morning, live from my kitchen window.

Photo prise depuis ma cuisine...

Skywatch Friday!

The pillar of angels - Le Pilier des Anges

And this is what yesterday's little jealous guy was looking at...
Et voice ce que notre jaloux d'hier regardait...

Plus d'infos ici, en francais.

The Pillar is a representation of the Last Judgement, and is situated in the south transept, just next to the astronomical clock, to which I will come back... one day.

The man on the railing - L'homme de la balustrade

Another curious figure is this man leaning on a railing. Legend says that he is an architect, jealously watching what his competitor had built.

La legende raconte qu'il s'agit d'un architecte regardant ce que son concurrent avait construit.

Le chien de la cathedrale The cathedral's dog

Yes, there is an old dog living in the cathedral. It is Jean Geiler's dog, a renowned 15th century theologian, Geiler used to preach from the magnificent pulpit (by Hans Hammer, 1486 AD).
And where can you see the doggie? Well, on the pulpit, of course! Try to find him, he is tiny... Just above the end of the watermark... There he is!

Le chien du predicateur Jean Geiler de Kaysersberg, sculpte par Hans Hammer, en 1486. Comme tout bon chien de predicateur qui se respecte, vous le trouverez bien sur... sur la chaire! Juste au-dessus de la derniere lettre de mon nom. Attention, il est minuscule!

Cutting it fine

Forgot your Valentine present? Here's an idea...

Is it a horse or a bird??? Cheval ou oiseau???

Well, it is a horse with bird's head!

Created by the Italian Mimmo Paladino, his head is covered with real gold. The city of Strasbourg bought it 20 years ago for 250 millions italian lire, quite a lot. 4 meters tall, it stands on the roof of the Museum of Modern Art, and is called 'Hortus Conclusus', which means 'enclosed garden'. Don't ask me why.
No, really don't.

Weekend Reflection

Yet another reflection for this weekend. Click here for some more!

Friday Skywatch

Hier, au reveil, un lever de soleil eblouissant!

The most gorgeous sunrise yesterday morning!

Friday Skywatch, click ici/here!

Winter Hiver

Nice weather today, good enough to have a hot drink on the terrace. Tomorrw: rain.

Belle journee d'hiver, suffisament clemente pour se permettre la terasse. Pluie annoncee pour demain.

Bon appetit!

A short introduction to Alsatian baking. The ubiquitous beignets (donuts) of course. No ringed ones here. The kougelhopf (many ways of spelling it...). Either sweet, with raisins and almonds, or salted, with bacon bits and walnuts.
In the bags, you can see different varieties of 'bredele', Alsatian for biscuits.
What will it be, sweet kougelhopf, or salty kougelhopf?

The Buddha shop Tiens, voila du Bouddha!

Found this strange and very inviting shop. Although very interested in Buddha's teachings, I don't think I'll ever get myself a statue. Who knows, I might change my mind.

Hiver bucolique... Bucolic winter...

Parc de l'Orangerie

Le boulanger The baker

What are you having for breakfast?

Que prenez-vous au petit-dejeuner?

Not just a big puss! Ce n'est pas un gros minou!

No no, it is actually actually a European lynx, a good-sized one. Mighty nice of to posing for me! Nice pussycat!

Ceci est un lynx de nos montagnes, pas vraiment le minou qu'on caresse dans la rue...

Skywatch Friday

Right before last weekend's violent storm, there was this incredible burst of sunshine, piercing the clouds just above the football (aka soccer, for some) pitch.

More sky photos here.