Well, we catch a train tomorrow evening for Paris, where we catch the plane…home. Do not be mistaken, I love my home, my family, even my job, but…..this has been such a magical, snowy, Christmas-flavored vacation, that going home feels like going back to reality after a lovely dream. Not bad, but, well, ordinary. The suburbs of California have a hard time matching the most beautiful cities in Europe, and that’s a fact.
Today we wandered, maybe for miles. We walked to the Museum of Illustration and enjoyed the sweet, simple, lovely Ilustrations of Tomi Ungerer and the biting 1960’s political satire of Bosc. Ungerer’s tales, “The Three Robbers” and “Jean de la Lune” were illustrated, and are lovely, even if one does not understand the French. Bosc’s wordless, one- panel comics said a lot in 6 square Inches…that is powerful
Stuff.
After re-fueling at Le Stub (The Stork) we visited The Strasbourg Cathedral. Smaller than Cologne ( because everything is) and simpler than St. Bavo’s in Ghent, this cathedral is RIGHT in the middle of town. You turn a corner and it just loooooms above you. And when the bells begin to peal, hold onto something. it’s like listening to a church roll downhill.. bongbongbongadabong!!!!!!
But what this church has that the others don’t is the 16th century, state of the art, astronomical clock. This puppy shows time, season, phase of the moon, exact position of planets, feast days, astronomical signs, all in a context of “Hey you! This is how much time you have left! Don’t mess about!” this was not a clock to get you to the dentist on time..lthis clock let you know, in paintings, sculpture and location ( the building has been standing and in use for 1,000 years) that you, sir or madam, are but a blink of an eye. It does sort of put one in perspective.
I guess this is one of the things I love and cherish about my time in Europe. I feel connected to a longer line of civilization than we find in the States. Where a few centuries is a blink, not the whole country. Europe is more like swimming in the deep end of the pool.