35 Week Update and a Visit From Some of Our Oldest Friends

Last week, our good friends from the US, Dean and Phil, visited us here in Strasbourg. We really enjoyed showing them all the sights. And they were great sports about slowing the sight-seeing pace if I needed a rest. Here is my official 35 week photo.........Of course we had to climb to the top of the Strasbourg Cathedral as part of their city tour. It is a 333 stair climb to the top and safe to say I felt a little more winded this time around.


It was a perfect clear blue sky fall day, so we couldn't resist snapping lots of photos from the top.


We spent the week leisurely showing Dean and Phil all the other sights in Strasbourg and Alsace. This including the oldest section of the city, La Petite France.

Here are Dean and Phil outside one of our favorite restaurants. We love this beautiful tree. Legend has it that in the middle ages, minstrals would sit here and entertain the public from the tree limbs.
And of course, we had to do the walking tour of all the European Institutions, like The European Court of Human Rights :

The European Parliament:

And The Council of Europe:


After their intense lesson in European Politics, Dean and Phil (and Peter for that matter) were more than ready for our next planned event, the World Beer Festival. Apparently this festival only happens twice a year, once in Montreal and once in Strasbourg. So, of course, we had to check it out. (yes, I was that pregnant lady--8 months pregnant at a beer festival.)



Another day, we headed to Germany. We parked in France at the Jardin de deux Rives. (This is the French/German park that is divided by the Rhine River which also divides the two countries.) We braved the cold wind and walked across the Bridge of Europe to Germany to eat some schnitzel and drink some pils.

October was a great time for a visit to Strasbourg. Dean and Phil had the rare privilege of enjoying blue skies as the back drop to their sight-seeing. Here they are in front of St. Paul's.


And taking a rest in a little park.


Considering they were visiting a pregnant lady in France, it makes sense that one of our main pasttimes for this visit was eating. Here we are at a traditional Alsatian spot, Chez Yvonne. Sarkozy is rumored to favor the veal head when he comes to this restaurant, but I thought the pumpkin soup (served in a tiny pumpkin) was the highlight of my meal.

Although Phil might have argued that the dessert was his favorite.......
Overall it was one of the many delicious meals we shared during their visit.



We also spent a day driving through the countryside on the Alsatian wine route. The fall colors were amazing.
And the wine, delicious as always.

And, to really top off an already amazing visit, our friends were generous enough to treat us to lunch at our first ever Michelin star rated restaurant, Au Crocodile. It was delicious and elegant and very reminiscent of the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts shoots the snail across the room before explaining, "slippery little suckers, aren't they?"

Thanks Dean and Phil for a fun and relaxing visit. It was a great last hoorah before Baby Mallory arrives.