Today we joined thousands of others visiting the classic tourist sites in Strasbourg, France.
This city of about 275,000 people is in the Alsace Region on the eastern border in France on the west bank of the Rhine.
The area is famous for villages, churches, castles and vineyards and while we usually like to venture off the beaten path, in this city there are a few ‘must-sees’.
The day starts with a ‘Batorama’ boat ride on the river through the city, and we definitely agree with this being a must-do because it was a great way to get an overview with very little effort. Temperatures in mid-80’s make for a very warm ride, especially with so many tourists and so little breeze.
We toured the Cathedral Notre Dame of Strasbourg and strolled through La Petite France. Even overflowing with people it was a charming area with huge pots of flowers everywhere including hanging on bridges and store windows. For dinner we chose a less touristy place, and with no English on the 
menu or from the servers, I think we did well. Ordering off the menu was a roll of the dice and luckily we both enjoyed what we got!
After dinner we stopped at the former checkpoint between France and Germany and walked across the suspension bridge to Germany. The area is now Le Jardin Des Deux Rives, obviously a very popular spot for the locals with people playing badminton, sprawled out on blankets enjoying picnics, and riding bikes with kids. It feels strange to be able to drive freely from one country to the next, and I wonder how 
it is for those who grew up during a different time and remember checkpoints.
We had the option of taking a train to Strasbourg, we could walk to the station from our hotel in Ramstein. You can take us out of America, but you can’t take the American out of us. We decided we preferred to have the flexibility of being on our own timetable, along with seeing things outside Strasbourg. At the end of the day we were in bed long before the train would have returned, so we made the right decision for us.
Beautiful!