FRANCE - 24 Hours in Strasbourg

Around 1.5 hours along the line from Reims is Strasbourg the capital of Alsace and a city which has a German influence due to its location right up against the Franco-German border and the fact that over the centuries Alsace has been ruled by both countries.

Over the years I have seen several stork's nests on my travels around Europe patrticularly in Southern France and Northern Spain. Alsace is famous for its storks and large numbers nest in the region each year. Because its May, the time of year when the birds are tending their young, there are lots of storks around Strasbourg at the moment. As is usual with wildlife these pictures don't really do them justice but I can assure you I saw several nests that had chicks in them,

The city itself is very walkable and the old historic quarter of timber framed buildings sits on an island in the River Ill just before it flows into the Rhine.

There is also another Notre Dame Cathedral, this time one that has one of the biggest astronomical clocks I have ever seen. It operates on both National Time and Local Time - the local Strasbourg time being half an hour behind Central European Time. CET is calculated from a meridan near Prague and as Strasbourg is roughtly half way between Prague and Greenwich this accounts for the half hour difference. As far as the clock is concerned, local time takes precedence, so all the action - chiming, moving figures etc - happens on the half hour rather than the full hour. It has a pertetual calendar and every New Years Eve calculates the dates of the movable feasts like Easter for the following year using the Comput Ecclesiastique mechanism.

All pretty impressive stuff.

One set of hands showing National Time, one set showing Strasbourg Time.
There is a similar multi handed clock in Corn Street in Bristol showing London (Railway) Time and Bristol Time.

Legend has it that this chap cast aspersions regarding the skills of the Master Mason and the structural soundness of the cathedral during its construction. The Mason therefore carved him in stone to forever stare at a pillar in the cathedral waiting for it to fall down!