The French-Swiss Anniversary celebration
The Paris bit of this anniversary trip was the equivalent to a layover when on a long air trip.This was a short flight to Paris (sadly, Eurostar cost so much more) on route to Strasbourg, I don’t recall too much. The hot weather prohibited us getting out to any new neighbourhoods. The idea was just to land in a familiar city, enjoy what we can and pick up the train to Strasbourg the next day.
We seemed to spend much of the time in the superbly air-conditioned Galleria Lafayette department store. My best memory is of randomly spotting the Eiffel Tower through a corner window in the store.
And sitting with over-priced coffees in Joe & the Juice (which in the UK generally sits with John Lewis) admiring the stunning roof. We did manage a couple of beers at the (what they call) the Great Canadian Pub, which looked pretty much like any other bar with its TV screens everywhere you look so no one talks to each other.
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is as delightful as I expected. It is still hot and this time the hotel cannot cope as well. However, when we could find shade and actually look up at the old buildings that lined every street, I could see why I was bought here.
Luckily the Le Meteor Bar was just around the corner (although it didn’t feel like it - It felt like walking in treacle every time we were outside). As well as the beers, this place serves tarte flambée, a flatbread (like pizza) you order with any number of toppings. 10 mins after leaving Le Meteor, I realised every single bar serves this.
During a visit to Comar, which we expected to be a sleepy little town, we saw more tourists than we witnessed in Paris, with no public conveniences. We picked the cooler day, which happened to be a Saturday and so did everyone. 50% of the time was spent dodging people and finding quieter streets to explore, the other 50% looking for a loo and/or coffee. After much searching, 1924 cafe fulfilled our needs. We’d already visited another outpost of 1924 inside the market hall upon arrival.
Back in Strasbourg, the coffee experience was exceptional both in Omnino and Cafe Reck.
Another altogether happier train trip was the few minutes it took to get across to Germany. For no other reason other than we could. I will always get excited about crossing borders so effortlessly. I still remember the first time I took the train from England into Scotland wondering why I hadn’t done it before. It’s wonderful to step on a train in France, go across the border, have the announcements change to German and have no ID check. We simply walked around Kehl a bit and got the next train back.
Dinners were enjoyed at Hadiqa and Baan Thai, because we’re not away if we haven’t had Thai food, although the pizza at the incredibly popular Pop & Lino for our anniversary (let’s do something simple and easy) sent me over the edge. I was thinking of our lovely time at a local pizza place in Rotterdam and thought we could also enjoy something uncomplicated for our anniversary. In the heat, I should have chosen something equally as fresh. Instead, my pizza came loaded with cheese and I could barely look at it. The dairy overload coupled with the heat overload rendered me useless for the rest of the night. I was glad to make it to Zurich the next day.
Zurich
Having spent most of the previous evening in the bathroom with the hotel staff kindly bringing up various requested cleaning products, it was a delight to be in the fresh air. As fresh as it’s going to be in the stifling heat anyway. We hopped across to the train station opposite the hotel, passing the spot I only just noticed last night; there is a mini campsite for seemingly the homeless - I’m not sure. Anyway, I was pleased to have spotted them and offered them half of the pizza I hadn’t consumed, which was taken with gratitude. Psychologically I felt better not to be holding it anymore - never mind the guilt of what would have been wasted food.
We notice the shops in the magnificent station were closed, we discover, due to a power cut. So no distraction there and in any case, I was happy to settle on the train. Almost every train I’ve been on across the world has been a masterclass* in how public transport should be and Strasbourg to Zurich, like the inbound from Paris, was excellent. The seats are comfortable enough to fall asleep in and the tray table has a separate coffee cup holder - simple things that make the journey pleasurable.
Having been to Sweden, Norway, Iceland and even Switzerland before - 48 hours in Geneva one Christmas - I braced myself for the high prices in the city so often in the ‘best place to live’ lists. I can see why. It is immaculate, feels safe and has lakeside views that go on for miles. We acclimated to the price hike (not that Strasbourg wasn’t pricey too) by going straight out for a coffee at Mame (£5.60 each) while we contemplated justifying £22 for a burger and drink at Burgermeister. The burger experience was quite lovely. Mame had every coffee shop clique ticked off: coffee bean sacks, low hung lights, uncomfortable hard benches posing as seats, plants, expensive coffee gear for sale, branded merch - you get the drift.
The next evening at Sternen Grill (we’d decided fastish food was the way to go - we’re only here for 2 nights) proved less good value; for chicken (no accompaniments) and a hot dog of the quality you get at a 7-11, we paid £20. Plus another tenner for a beer to make it more palpable. All the time we were fighting wasps but luckily managed to move seats. It meant I could only eat two-thirds of my hot dog, the bits the wasps hadn’t sat on. But this is Zurich fast -food. Queue up to order, get your food, find a near non-existent table. If you’re lucky, dinner comes with a seat.
Still at least the lake was free to view. And we travelled by train to get on a cable cart to Adliswil (more attacks by wasps up here). Back in the city centre, it is much easier to pop on the little red Polybahn train up to Polyterrasse ETH, where the students go, as that’s the university and then back again. That’s all this train does, every five minutes. Pretty glorious. At the top is where the photo of the white dog (this is one of many) were taken.
The highlight though was a visit to the area surrounding the Frietag tower. That was interesting in itself, but it was just a shop. I loved the African Store where we both picked up a couple of clothing items and chatted to the lovely owner. The loos here surprised me; clear, free and safe. This area is the equivalent to Birmingham’s Custard Factory and yet was vibrant even on a weekday lunchtime. It is, after all, surrounded by offices. Many of those workers picked up their takeaway coffee from ViCafe Gerold (£4.60). As did we.
Actually, the area is much bigger than the Custard Factory, it is the size of Digbeth, if you can imagine Digbeth High St is littered with boutique shop after restaurant, after gallery.
We finished our second evening with a cold brew from Cafe Henrici (£5) having done a lot of hiking (that’s what you call walking when it becomes hilly and tiring).
The next day, there was one more bit of unfinished Zurich business to undertake. Braving the heat once again, we took a trip out to the Lindt factory. With very little shelter during the (seemed so long) walk from the train station, we breathlessly agreed we could not possibly buy any chocolate. The fact that we did, meant crisscrossing the road back to get as much shade as possible while walking as fast as the treacle heat would allow us. Doing the Lindt thing seemed to fit as our last act in Zurich before we went to the airport for our flight straight back to Birmingham.
*Discounting Bucharest and 1 or 2 in Budapest.
August 2022
