I am already back from Strasbourg. Today is Friday the 24th of November, roughly fifteen minutes past four. I recently ate my lunch, and I just drank my third coffee of the day.
How is Strasbourg in November? It is really dark if you have an office job. Because you get up when it is dark, you go to the H bus when it is dark, and you go to the same bus in the evening also when it is dark. Thus you do not get to see much. Luckily, for all of you lucky people I have written about the wonderful Strasbourg before. When there was much more sunlight.
So why I am writing again about Strasbourg? Since I have this platform to tell my stories, I want to tell another one. This one is called “Strasbourg in November”.
I got up at 05:30 on Monday morning. Not unusual. I shaved already in the evening before. After waking up I showered, I drank my morning coffee and I got mentally prepared to head to Strasbourg. How did I mentally prepare? I scrolled through Instagram. No breakfast when I am traveling in the morning. My bus leaves at 07:30; therefore I leave my house a little after six to head to the Parliament. I am packed, I kissed my lovely wife goodbye and I headed off to France.
Please do not mind the dirty iPad Mini screen. I can see everything perfectly unless the sun shines directly onto the tablet. A big thank you goes to the engineer who developed the hotspot on an iPhone. I can share my phone’s mobile internet and stream Netflix while sitting on the bus. The bus ride is roughly five hours; therefore you can watch at least two movies or a half-season of a decent show. As you can see below, one of the things I watched was “The Killer”, the latest movie by David Fincher. I love it. I have already seen it three times, and I am tempted to watch it again. If you have not seen it then I highly recommend it.
We arrived in Strasbourg a few minutes to one o’clock. I did not go immediately to my hotel. Mainly because it is too far away from my place of work. Thus I was able to see for the first time my accommodations for the next three nights only in the evening. Was I pleased? The room was not cold, there was hot water and a toilet. And, most importantly, no weird noises. Considering the price the room was okay(-ish). Any nasty surprises? Yes, I did see one cockroach in the hallway.
First dinner? For some reason, I really wanted something from McDonald’s. I knew that the closest one was roughly 650 meters from my hotel, so I decided to head to it. I was tempted to go with the traditional BigMac, at least until I saw that the McDonald’s of Strasbourg has a double burger with blue cheese. Enough said? I was expecting more regarding the taste, but my meal did the trick. I was full and ready to sleep after a five-hour bus ride and a four-hour workday.
I did not order any breakfast with my booking. It costs eight euros, and for that, you get semi-decent croissants, bad coffee, and maybe something more. I chose to eat my breakfast in one of the bars at the Parliament. When heading to the bus stop, I googled a nearby store to see whether they had a deck of cards. Luckily, one tobacco store had. One more deck is added to my collection. You may ask whether you can really write on Google Maps “playing cards” and get meaningful results. My reply is, yes, you most certainly can.
Don’t you just love this magnificent building in the morning sun? So far I have not gotten used to this view. I just love it.
This is not my breakfast coffee. This is my four o’clock espresso. I believe I have a couple of similar coffee photos on my phone from previous missions. Again, I have not gotten used to this. I hear people complaining in the halls that they hate going to Strasbourg. All this change of scenery and workplace is not for them, they say. I enjoy it. I really do. Most people do not get this privilege to travel to different places of work. We do. Thus I embrace it to the fullest.
Indian Wood from Pierre Guillaume was my first fragrance from The Man, The Myth, and The Legend. It has been a minute since I used it. When we bought our new fragrances in Amsterdam, the wonderful shop manager gave us a few samples. Thankfully, one was Indian Wood. I may actually buy again this fragrance. I put this sample in my pocket, and once a day I sprayed it on. I still love it. Maybe an early Christmas gift is coming?
Second dinner. I went to my usual place which is the L’Atelier. I took a white beer. It was good. I came at a little over seven o’clock, the place was just about getting busy. The owner quickly found a table and I was able to look at the menu.
I opt for les fleischschnecke. What it is you may ask? It is a traditional Alsatian dish. “Fleischschnecke” translates to “meat snail” in German.
Les Fleischschnecke is a type of savory pastry made with a rolled-out dough filled with a mixture of ground meat, onions, and various spices. The filling often includes a combination of pork and beef. The rolled dough is then sliced into individual portions resembling snail shells, and the dish is typically baked until the pastry is golden brown.
Have I said that I really love this dish? It is wonderful. Try it!
Nothing major happened after. I ate one of my favorite dishes, I drank my beer, and I went back to the hotel. Watched a little Netflix, I phoned my wonderful wife to ask her about her day, and I went to sleep. I usually try to go to sleep in Strasbourg before eleven. It does not always happen, but I try.
Good morning. My view when I eat breakfast at my wonderful Parliament. It is something, is it not?
I promise this is not a food blog. A good friend of mine said that you need to be really good at preparing food to be able to write about it. Am I a really good home cook? Hard to say. But I do like to take pictures of interesting dishes I encounter. Below is one of them. If I had to explain what it is I could not. You just need to know that the meat was cooked to perfection.
I went a bit traditional with the dessert. A fondant with chocolate ice cream. Whenever I order a fondant I come to the same conclusion every time. My wife makes the best fondants! She truly does. Consider yourself extremely lucky if you have had the chance to taste it.
Why does the main dish need fries? They were good. But why though? It did not seem right. Then again, I am not the chef, and most certainly the chef knows better how to prep his meals.
But fries were not the issue. A surprise happened when the bill came. This is not the cheapest of places. Although my steak cost 29.00 EUR, when two people eat do not expect to get out with a bill of less than 100.00 EUR. We roughly remembered what cost what, so we were prepared to receive a bill of roughly 120.00 EUR. The waiter gave us a bill of 239.00 EUR. How? My friend was ready to pay when I decided to glance over the bill to see why we ended up north of 200.00 EUR. It turns out that the waiter, hopefully by mistake due to a busy evening, added to our bill three expensive items. These three items were ordered by the table next to ours. Of course, the waiter apologized and quickly brought us the correct bill. But, sadly, the damage was done. It left a sour aftertaste. If you go to a restaurant with white table sheets and a relatively expensive menu, you expect a bit more sophisticated service. At least I expect it.
I went back to my hotel room and phoned my lovely wife. She also said that such mistakes can happen, especially if there is a busy evening and if a waiter is in a hurry. Yes, I have not worked as a waiter so I do not know firsthand the stresses of the job. Sadly, there is a part of me that thinks that maybe those added items were put on our bill on purpose. Maybe we would not notice. After all, my friend was ready to pay the first bill. Or maybe it was really just a mistake. If the restaurant really would have wanted to make us pay more, then they would have added just one, relatively inexpensive item. Correct? Will I go there again? Probably not in the immediate future.
Good morning. It is Thursday. The day when we leave Strasbourg and head back to Brussels. Just look at this wonderful sight. The “Louise WEISS” building. Simply magnificent.
My bus trip to Brussels took longer than expected. We departed at 14:30, and we arrived in Brussels at around 20:30. Thus roughly six hours. Should I complain? I do not think so. The ride was not that bad. I watched a documentary about Mrs Liliane Bettencourt.
See you next time, Strasbourg.
Kind regards,
Olaaf
