05/03/2026 – Strasbourg: French, German or… something else?
We got up early in the morning and walked a short distance to a nice patisserie for an authentic French pastry and a cup of Café Americano for Kathy and a tiny bottle of orange juice for Dave. Or was it authentic French? Dave saw something in the lineup of baked goods that had a name that looked a lot like what he used to have as a kid from a German lineage family: Kugin. Anyway, the breakfast was good and Kathy said it was the best coffee she had so far in France. Next up: a food tour in Strasbourg.
We met our guide, Ricardo, and his dog pal, Cosmo, at the appointed location for our food tour at 10:45 am. There was another couple from Phoenix, AZ, on the tour (she was originally from Brazil!) Ricardo did a great job taking us from place to place, telling us about the Alsatian food and history. This is despite the fact that he was originally from Mexico, lived in Montreal, and now lives in Strasbourg with his Alsatian wife of 10 years. We first tried some authentic local dried meats (think salami) and bits of pretzel. All items were hand crafted in the shop from local farms (or, in the case of the venison sausage, from the local woods!) They were tasty. Kathy tried the local wine and hand crafted beer. Next up was a cheese shop with two kinds of local cheeses. One was good; the other reminded Dave of hay. Oh, well, not everything can be a hit. Next was the main course at a restaurant at the bottom of a wine making store. Both of us had the spaetzle, which was really good. Kathy had another taste of wine. The last two stops were for dessert. One had a local specialty that was called a bundt cake (because it is baked in a bundt-like pan), but tasted more like a cinnamon bun without the cinnamon. The last stop was for a tarte, which was a very, very thin pizza dough, topped by cheese and apple slices. When it came out, the waiter poured some kind of flaming liquid on top of it. It, too, was very good. Ricardo gave us gastronomy lessons as well as local history lessons all along the walk. And Cosmo eventually warmed up to us, especially Kathy, whom Cosmo sat at her feet at times. Finally, it was time to go our separate ways. We went back to the hotel for a nice little nap before wandering around the city of 270,000 people some more.
Still full from our tour, we were not hungry for a big dinner later. We sat down at a nice café and had another tarte, but with cream, cheese and “chunks of bacon”. It was okay, but the French do not know what bacon is supposed to be. We walked some more and pondered how we were going to spend our final day in Strasbourg tomorrow. Soon, we ended up back at the hotel and settled in for the night.