Having been mist-bound at home on Friday, and spent the day organising bookings in Germany next week, and also cruising around on Ancestry.com, with interesting results, I set out late morning Saturday for Strasbourg, counting on the mist lifting by the time I got there. And it did. And Strasbourg was Alive! On Sundays, it is closed, hardly anyone in the centre; they must be at home enjoying a lie-in and lunch. It is on Saturday that they go to town. All the squares and linking streets were packed, people just strolling, just enjoying whatever turned up. A book market in one square, (at one, fly acquired an 1898 fashion newspaper, on the front page an illustration of ladies on the ice in the latest designs for patineuses – Flyspring No 3 will be interested in that), a drummer in another, a display about aid for countries in need, with a group of young people acting out a mini-drama. In the Cathedral square, a man on a stool playing an antique instrument, and singing baroque music, in a voice with the most fantastic range. When first heard, I thought he was a counter-tenor, but then he moved register completely into a tenor range. Then back again. It was eerie, and wonderful.
Quite a lot of young people ride unicycles, and a group of them were putting on a show in Kleber Square, just for fun – no hat out for money. They are very efficient means of transport really, easy to pick up with one hand and get on the tram or train. With backpacks to carry their gear, they seem to work very well.
Of course fly could not pass the big shops without a peek. I had been reading in the Oz news of poor what’s-his-name who is CEO of Myer having his salary cut to $1.8m, and thinking of how sparsely staffed the Myer shops are these days. Not so here. The floors of Lafayette are teeming with sleek black-clad assistants. They don’t actually do much, there is not enough for all of them to do, from what I can see. But once you look like you have made a choice, one of them pounces on you, and escorts you to the ‘caisse’ – paying counter, of which there are only one or two on a floor. You pay, the escort puts your purchase in a bag, and that is that. It occurred to me later that maybe they are paid commission on the sales they bring to the caisse, and maybe they also rely on tips?
Later in the afternoon, I found myself in a position to acquire several years’ worth of my quota of passive smoking in a brief half hour. Smoking here is of course much more present than at home now, and not banned from eating places. I took a seat at an outdoor restaurant, to have a glass of white and watch the passing parade. There were groups of men out for their Saturday afternoon meet and greet, smoking cigars. I actually like the smell of cigars, and pipes too, but beyond a certain density in the atmosphere, even that attraction fades. There were clouds of smoke, not mist, hanging over the restaurant’s outdoor clientele.
Wandering back towards the station, fly heard marching music and spotted police on bicycles (looking really cute too!). They were heading up (no, I should say escorting) a parade of LGBT people with brass instruments, banners and rainbow clothing, dancing their way through the streets. They headed for the Cathedral Square, where they danced and talked for quite a while. Don’t know if this was a demonstration against something (perhaps the Cardinal has a way with words when speaking to and of gay people similar to a notable example at home?) or maybe simply a statement of presence. There were quite a number of dogs in the parade too – can dogs be gay?
And finally, before catching the train, I succumbed to the current fever and bought some pumpkins. One of the flower stalls had all the little varieties for 1 euro each. So I too have a display - in a bowl on my coffee table.
(Pics are in folder Strasbourg 3)
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