[La Vienne]Tubingen part 2

Tubingen…. We left our heroes having seen, taken photos, and discussed the 2 significant new urban reuse projects on the south end of the city. They had had a good, if tipsy, lunch. They had found hidden, unofficial, living places where the residents had created an organic community. This left them with two final goals to their day’s adventure:
1) To drink some water (you will recall that it was quite hot) and
2) To explore that city center.

On our way towards the city center we passed a huge supermarket and sought drinking water inside. It had multiple floors that were connected not by elevators or escalators, but by long, moving ramps so that shoppers could take their cart from floor to floor in great masses. The guys were going to get just one water, but I insisted on a second, which Bertrand ended up hogging :-). We continued our trek towards the center (not far, and on the way back to the parking garage where we left the car). However, it required the use of several pedestrian overpasses above major roadways (implying that cars are more important than people).

I don’t know why Tubingen is not a major tourist destination. Maybe it is better as another hidden treasure. The historic center is lovely. People road boats along the river lined with beautiful, densely-packed buildings. Alongside one part of the river is a pedestrian walkway and another has a beer garden. The riverbank, the city, has a steep incline, and the transportation network in this area includes a number of small pedestrian paths with stairways between roads that could squeeze in a car. The town square, also on a bit of a slope a block or two to the river, is like other town squares I have seen in Europe, as pretty as the prettiest. Of course, the bridges over the river are old and stone, and because this is Germany, lined with flower boxes. In fact, flowers are everywhere.

We made a small loop through the center, and then settled down at the beer garden since we had about an hour before having to leave in time to get back to Strasbourg so that our architect and landscape architect could get their last train back to Colmar. More beer… I think I made a record for myself, but actually probably not. (Of course, Bertrand, the driver, had lemonade.)

I forgot to mention that we passed through the birthplace of the Statue of Liberty on our way to les Vosges the previous day. They have a small version of her on the main traffic circle as you pass through town. My companions that day were excited for me to see her there. Have you noticed that she has kind of a stern expression?

It has been raining off and on all day, and now my mother and I are hoping it will stay clear long enough for us to take a short bike ride to a nearby town. Our angel of a neighbor gave us a colorful bouquet from her garden. (My mother wondered if we ask to have tomatoes instead, but I advised against it.) The roads here are lined with hollyhocks.

I think that brings me almost up to date. I finished reading Le Divorce last night. But, I will discuss it in another blog.