My New Favourite City?

It hardly seems real that I should be here in Strasbourg, France, reunited with Jordan, and strolling through the most beautiful city. I say to him quite frequently, “Am I dreaming?” The entire first day felt like I was floating on air.

I have already unpacked my luggage and organized the apartment. It really feels like home. It’s spacious, well decorated, has plenty of storage space for both our belongings, but lord, it’s been hot. I’ve already ordered a second mini AC. This heatwave + the top floor apartment + two giant windows – one that gets direct sun in the morning, one in the evening – and hot pot lights… well, you’ve got a sauna. Thankfully, opening up the two balcony doors in the morning let’s the air circulate through which keeps it relatively cool through the day. Jordan is not as sensitive to heat, but very much like the cold, I am like a lizard to my environment. My skin becomes like a radiator. When I read “heatwave” in the news, I did not anticipate this. Thankfully today has been so much cooler, and all windows have been opened to let in the beautiful, fresh breeze (and the sounds of birds and church bells).

Now, our home is complete with the arrival of Rukia. She flew over Sunday night and I picked her up from Paris CDG yesterday. It was a nightmare thanks to the animal neglecting company that is Air France, but that’s another story for another day. But she’s all fine now; catching up on her rest, getting used to her new surroundings (she can already lead me back to “home”), enjoying the market and the produce scraps discarded on the floor (she hates mango!), and sleeps right through all the endless church bells of this city. Again, it hardly seems real that I have my Canadian dog here with me in France. Our little family, our new life, a new chapter… our little home is complete. Papa Jordan is already spoiling his baby.

There are quite a few photos in this post. They’re from the first day walking around Strasbourg and a few from the market with Rukia. I destroyed my feet with a bad pair of sandals but it was hard to focus on the pain when you’re surrounded by endless beauty. This city is truly a dream – and SO different from Paris. It’s quiet (silent – only gets busy in the evenings in the city centre), so, so safe, it’s completely spotless, and every building is different from the one before it. It’s hard not to take a picture of everything.

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My beautiful man opened up a bottle of Rose champagne famous in the Alsacian region once I arrived and it was like JUICE. Absolutely splendid!

Have I mentioned that the market is literally right outside our apartment building? You can see our apartment in the photo I took from across the street. It happens every Tuesday and Saturday. Market stall owners are so friendly, welcoming, they encourage you to try their products, and the prices are absolutely phenomenal – this is a whole different world from my market experiences in Paris. I got eggplant, spinach, onion, peaches, plums, and a mango (that tastes like manna) for 3,40EUROS! Once I realized the prices these people were charging, I went to a few other stalls… Okay, I went a little crazy. But, needless to say, I’ve got a pretty fresh and phenomenal meal planned for tonight and I only spent about 13EUROS.

Even drying my laundry on my balcony of my apartment in France that overlooks a cathedral and the spire of a beautiful church, with a bright blue sky as a backdrop, birds soaring overhead, was such a beautiful experience. I am relishing in everything I can. This place is perfect. Life is simply perfect. And it can only get more beautiful from here on.

I am so happy.

xo
C