On Saturday night my host parents and I drove to Strasbourg (about 30 minutes away) to see the illumination of the cathedral on it’s 1000th anniversary. We went to dinner at a really lovely (and also very old, although not 1000 years) restaurant called Bistrot des Copains. My host parents are both born and raised Alsatians, which is a region with a very unique cuisine, and they chose traditional Alsatian dishes for me off the menu. It was seriously exceptional. I think tarte flambée may be my new favorite thing.
After dinner, we walked over to the cathedral. It was just barely raining--the type of rain that you’re happy to walk in. Enough to need an umbrella, but not so much that it’s unpleasant. Strasbourg is already a gorgeous city, but in the rain it’s extraordinary.
Now, when my host mom told me we were going to see the illumination of the cathedral, I thought she meant that there were just going to be a few lights shining on it here and there. I could not have been more wrong. The illumination used lights to color each and every detail of the cathedral. The level of detail was incredible; it must have taken hours upon hours of work.
Standing in front of it, watching the mist fall down on a crowd of umbrellas, and seeing the art of the façade truly recognized was awesome. And I don’t mean awesome like “yeah, it was cool.” While I use that word a lot, I don't think very few things are actually awesome in the literal sense. Awe inspiring. The vastness of the universe is awesome. The the Big Bang was awesome. Noah parting the Red Sea was awesome. That pizza you had for lunch the other day was probably pretty rad, but not in the same sense. But this cathedral? Yeah, it was awesome.
France, you are so gorgeous.
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