Strasbourg, République française

So, the second stop on our European tour was in Strasbourg, France which is in the province of Alsace. The Alsatian region has been switching between Germany and France for many years, but is currently part of France. During our stay in Strasbourg we lived in a château, which was wonderful for many reasons: it was beautiful, had a kitchen (!!!!!), and had free wireless internet! Our first night there, we had dinner at a wonderful little French restaurant that was very close to our château. Once again our wonderful guide, Nicola, was able to get me a vegan meal!

The first course was a beautiful vegetable salad with a  mustard vinaigrette on top. The vegetables were fresh, flavourful, and crisp. After not having a plate of veggies for a while this was a welcome dish!

The main was pasta with a tomato sauce and green beans on the side. The sauce was flavourful and complex, but the pasta and green beans were rather boring. I think that I actually enjoyed the salad more than this, but I was happy to have it anyways.

Here was the dessert: a chocolate cake. I was assured by the staff that it was vegan and it was very tasty, but I was a little suspicious that it 'just happened to be vegan.' I guess we will never know and I will just have to be satisfied with that.

We visited a castle while in Strasbourg and I couldn't help but laugh at the toilets that are visible from outside the castle. Since there was no plumbing, the toilets were simply extensions from the outer wall of the castle that had openings to the outside. Whatever went into the toilet went out onto the ground. I hope nobody was standing there when somebody used the toilet...gross. I should get a toilet like that and position my enemies below it! Good plan, right?

After we saw the castle, we visited the town of Obernai for lunch. There really weren't many options, but I did find these pretzels. I do love me some salty, chewy bread!

I also had this bar to eat. I bought it at Vx before I left London and happened to have it with me - thank goodness!

Here's a photo of it on the inside. It was apple cinnamon flavour and was filled with nuts. I really liked it and it reminded me of a Larabar - if you're American, you probably know what I'm talking about. 

We also visited the Struthof that day. It was one of the Nazi concentration camps during WWII. The only photo that I thought was appropriate for the blog was this one of a monument that was built there, but as you can imagine it was very sad. I have visited the Dachau concentration camp in Bavaria twice, so it wasn't anything new, but still sad. Even though many people may not agree with me, seeing the way people were treated at these camps reminds me how animals are treated every day in factory farms and other places such as circuses where they are exploited. I know that many people have trouble identifying with the pain of animals, but when you look past the fact that they are a different species than our own, we are all very much the same. I am not trying to devalue what people at these camps went through during WWII, but it is just something to consider. 

On a lighter note, here are some yummy spreads that I acquired. During my time in London this summer, I grew rather fond of Marmite. I've heard several interpretations of what it tastes like, but the only thing that I can think of is something like soy sauce, but nice on bread/toast. The one on the right I bought at Al Natura (a health food shop) in Heidelberg. It is basically a vegan version of Nutella. Now, I haven't had Nutella for quite some time, but it tasted exactly the same to me. This makes me wonder why Nutella has dairy products in it at all? It seems completely unnecessary!

Since we had access to a kitchen while in Strasbourg, I was able to cook! Here was one of my meals. It is a jacket potato (hiding on the bottom) with some Heinz baked beans on top and sautéed broccoli, cauliflower, and Romanesco broccoli. It was mighty tasty and everyone else in the kitchen who smelled it wished that they had my food instead of whatever nastiness they were cooking up!

Another one of my meals. A bowl of Heinz baked beans, sautéed carrots, some German health bread, Marmite, peanut butter, and Samba spread. Oh and a peach too! Very simple, yet very yummy!

Oh, here's a photo of the grand château that we stayed in. It looks pretty nice, right? I apoligise as well for the randomness of the order of my photos. I just post them as they come because I'm pretty random in my life as well. Not too organised, but organised enough to get by. You guys don't mind, right?

For lunch in Strasbourg one day we went to Poeles de Carottes. It was so, so good. I got a veggie burger - it came with a salad and some nice potatoes. It was so nice to be able to sit down and have a nice meal without rushing. It was also nice to be able to choose from several dishes on a menu - just like in London!

For dessert, I got the sorbet. It was sorbet - nothing special, but still nice. It was also garnished with berries that I had never had before. I'm still not sure what they are - does anyone have any ideas? The sorbet was mango, raspberry, and lemon-lime I think. I can't read French so I'm not entirely sure.

We also visited the Alsatian Museum in Strasbourg. Can anyone guess what this chair was for? If you guessed childbirth, then you are correct! How horrific! I didn't even know such things existed. 

And here's a close-up on the handle of the chair. This really makes me not want children more than before. There were no painkillers when this chair was used so I guess the women just bit down on the chair??? I cannot imagine. First you have all this pain and then once that is over you're stuck with a screaming child. No offense to anyone with children, but no thanks.

Another nice meal in the kitchen. Bread, sautéed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, and some Heinz baked beans in the background. Not much to say about it, but yummy!

Our last night in Strasbourg, we had a group dinner. I made some roasted veggies for it - this pan has potatoes and tomatoes, but I also made mushrooms. Everyone wanted the recipe, but there really wasn't one. It was just oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. I guess I'm just amazing!

Here's my plate from the dinner. A salad, pretzels, Dijon mustard, fruit cup, and my roasted vegetables. Also some bread on the side to cover with the roasted garlic that I made. Heidi and I mostly ate that though, because nobody knew what it was!

And the last photo to leave you with. We went to a war museum and I thought this was a bit comical. A mother with a gas mask, her child in a full body suit, and a stroller that was connected to the mother's gas mask. This just seems like another way to re-attach the umbilical cord!