Battle of the Bulge 75th

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Monday, 8 April 2019 - Spent the day wandering Strasbourg's canals and old town, exploring the cathedral and its art and history, visiting Christmas Fletcher markets and the Palais Rohan, and ending with local Alsatian cuisine after a rainy evening walk through the city.

belgium2019 — Homes along the Ill River channels through Strasbourg. Just as picturesque as Burges.

belgium2019 — One of the towers supporting the defense of the city at the west edge of the city. The towers stand at the entrance to the canals for shipping.

belgium2019 — Virginia Ann and Cal on the canals of the Ill River.

belgium2019 — More store decorations over the entrance. Little bears on a train.

belgium2019 — Several shops selling local sausage.

belgium2019 — Bears, more bears, at a restaurant.

belgium2019 — Lots of bears in this display.

belgium2019 — Back to the Strasbourg cathedral. This is the great rose stained-glass from the outside. Above the rose window is the Gallery of Apostles. This is the point of honor of the various statuary that characterizes the facade.

belgium2019 — Over the main entrance is King Solomon and above him the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. Much of the ordinal statuary in this facade is in the Cathedral Notre Dame Museum.

belgium2019 — The southern side of the Strasbourg cathedral.

belgium2019 — Cathedral Builders Statue - a tribute near the Strasbourg Cathedral. I bumped into the monument while waiting for Virginia Ann who was in a nearby Christmas market.

belgium2019 — While we were in the Christmas Market Virginia Ann decided to visit a favorite store with all the Christmas ornaments.

belgium2019 — Palais Rohan is the former residence of the prince, bishops, and cardinals of the House of Rohan, an ancient French noble family originally from Brittany. It was built next to Strasbourg Cathedral in the 1730s. Since the end of the 19th century the palace has been home to three Strasbourg museums: the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts, and the Museum of Fine Arts.

belgium2019 — Many of the original furnishings were sold in the wake of the French Revolution. Some works of art were destroyed when the Prussian Army shelled the city during the Siege of Strasbourg in 1870.

The floor of the chapel is partly covered with a 1745 imitation of a Turkish carpet, woven in the Aubusson style and bearing the coat of arms of Armand Gaston de Rohan.

belgium2019 — The right section belongs to the stables wing. Left and right of the facade are decorated with busts of Roman emperors.

belgium2019 — Victorian carousel in the Christmas Market.

belgium2019 — We went back to the cathedral to shop and the lighting was changed - they were getting ready for a presentation of some sort. So I took advantage of the lights.

The beautiful rose window in the cathedral and the giant organ from the 14th century.

belgium2019 — The organ hanging on the side of the cathedral and the stained-glass on the west side.

belgium2019 — Christ and stained-glass.

During WWII the stained-glass was removed in 74 cases and stored in a salt mine near Heilbronn, Germany. After the war, it was returned to the cathedral by the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section of the United States military.

belgium2019 — The statues and background of stained-glass made for very nice compositions.

belgium2019 — Another beautiful tapestry - one of 14 hanging in the cathedral.

belgium2019 — Two female statues with flowing robes high on the North facade. I think this is Christianity on the left and Judaism on the right.

belgium2019 — A little snowman on top of a Christmas Market stall with the Strasbourg Cathedral in the background.

belgium2019 — Palace of the Rhine, formerly the Imperial palace, was built by the Germans in the 19th century when the Alsace-Lorraine was added to Germany after the Franco-Prussian war. The Kaiser stayed there only 12 times.

Now housing directorate of culture for the French government.

It was lightly raining on our walk.

belgium2019 — Monument to Philippe Leclerc, a Free-French general during the Second World War. He became Marshal of France posthumously in 1952, and is known in France simply as Marshall Leclerc or just Leclerc.

He commanded L Force in Africa which was then transformed into the 2nd Division Blindee, although it was often referred to as La Division Leclerc. It fought under Leclerc's command in the Battle of Normandy, and participated in the liberation of Paris and Strasbourg.

Another great dinner of local cuisine in the old town.

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