The Road Goes Ever On

Friday, July 14, 2023

Mittelbergheim

From Strasbourg we set forth June 13th for a few days' tour of four of the Alsace's better known villages, all members of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France organzation--pretty little villages, we call them--which we have made a habit of visiting in recent years. Mostly one just parks and walks around, appreciating the old buildings, the beautiful landscaping, and whatever special aspects of the place recommend themselves. First up this time was Mittelbergheim, an hour or two from Strasbourg, deep--very deep--in Alsatian wine country. If you want to see a beautiful Alsatian wine village that's not totally touristy, I recommend Mittelbergheim.

Big-time wine country

Modest little parish church

Stork nests all around; we'd have a close encounter with
one a day later

Mid-June; everything in bloom

Vins fins everywhere

One of the larger caves in the village

Evidently, a pretty well-regarded one (alas, tasting and
driving don't mix well)

Closed for lunch, but we were able to walk around
appreciating the interesting 12th century decor...see below

And click to enlarge to read the Anglais

A whole block of outdoor displays on traditional (i.e., Renaissance)
wine-producing processes and technologies

But not in English too

The life-sized mannequins had a certain Chucky-esque appearance

Pretty little village, yes, but much more too

And, not least, a guide to Renaissance residential styles and features;
and in English too

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Strasbourg Cathedral Interior

We continued our tour of Strasbourg Cathedral, finding the interior just as impressive as the exterior.

Nave view

Wider view

Massive pillars

Beautifully decorated organ

Glazed triforium! And beautiful 13th-14th century windows; alas, too
high to read very easily

West rose window

Closer up

The big attraction in this cathedral is its astronomical
clock, built in the mid-1800s after the style of
late Medieval clocks

Part of the machinery

Tells time but also give astronomical/astrological
information, location of planets, constellations, etc.

Performs periodically, to everyone's amusement

Apollo even tells you which demi-gods (saints) to pray to
on which days...the liturgical year, that is

Sun and moon phase information too

But it's the architecture, windows, and sculpture we found impressive

Apse half dome; done in the 19th century in Byzantine
style

With its mosaic "atta' girl, Mom" crowning of the Queen of Heaven

And great windows

Never miss a good devil or Hell scene

Some of the windows needed cleaning

Ornaments on the organ case

Some of the windows are emperors and kings and such

Plus the usual saints, apostles, evangelists, Biblical events, elsewhere

Beautiful place, with art and architecture spanning
a thousand years

Helpful plan

Contactless donation device

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Strasbourg Cathedral: Exterior

We were sure we'd visited the great re/brown/pinkish cathedral before, and subsequent archival research confirmed that we were there, with the girls, on August 4, 1989, during our first European Family Vacation. This was long before our current appreciation of such buildings, but we were taken with it anyway. Strasbourg's cathedral is a fine Rayonnant, built entirely in the Middle Ages, with some Romanesque vestiges, and a great (if modern) astronomical clock. Its most impressive feature, I think, is its exterior sculptural program: fine high and later Medieval sculpture, miraculously well-preserved considering all the trouble this church has seen...the wars of religion, its Protestant era, Louis XIV's returning it to the Catholics, the Revolution, when it became a Temple of Reason, and, finally, WWII, when Hitler wanted to turn it into a monument to the unknown German soldier, and subsequent Allied bombs. Some of it is protected now in the museum, but the replacements are quite impressive.