For the past week I have been pretending to be official at Le Parlament Européen buildings in Strasbourg as part of the Organising Team for Model European Union 2012. I've been working for this project for the past year and took part myself at MEU 2011 Strasbourg. A lot of happy memories meant that I had been very much looking forward to returning, and I was extremely lucky and grateful to have been given this opportunity. Note, due to being very busy for the past week, these photos are from last year.
For those who are wondering, the building is meant to look a bit unfinished - this is apparently symbolic of the unending task of Europe or is meant to reflect the Tower of Babel. Either way, I always end up pondering why they couldn't have got it finished by the next time I visit - I really am a Bear of Very Little Brain at times. The European Court of Human Rights looks rather amazingly futuristic though:
MEU is a simulation of the EU decision making procedures between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union; and each year our simulated bodies debate on two topics - this year was Passenger Name Record (PNR) data and 'FRONTEX', which looked at external borders of the European Union. Unusually both of the proposed directives passed this week - meaning that all our hard work paid off!
However, my trips to Strasbourg haven't all been surrounding myself in modern architecture, and I have had the opportunity to look around the Old Town and also the Petite France area, largely by whizzing around on the tram network. A bit of advice, make sure you check what direction the tram is going in before you get on - otherwise you will end up at Place de la République at least three times on your search for dinner. Below is the cathedral of Strasbourg. Notice that it only has one spire - there are two stories surrounding this: (1) The cathedral was built on marshy ground and it couldn't support another heavy spire being added, or (2) The people building the cathedral ran out of money. Either way it is rather lovely (at least on the outside, I'm not sure I've ever made it inside...yet!)
If you do find yourself in the Strasbourg area (and possibly beyond as well), I can highly recommend trying a Flammekueche (Flammkuchen in German or Tarte Flambée in French). These are a very traditional pizza-like speciality from the region, and the original comes topped with crème fraîche, onions and bacon lardons. There are a lot of variations on this, however, including sweeter dessert Flammekueche - my favourite being apples and cinnamon.