visiting my son in Strasbourg
I have been to visit my son and daughter-in-law a couple of times since they moved to Strasbourg, but I have made the trip in November to be there for my son’s birthday. I wanted to go in the spring so booked my journey for last week, at the beginning of March. The weather is always a lottery, but I was fortunate to see the city in glorious sunshine and warm temperatures, although I think I will miss the magnificent magnolias by just a few days, and the fabulous gingko trees hadn’t reached the marvellously-named budburst stage with their spring foliage. As promised, Tristan and Camille took me to a nearby park where there are White Storks nesting in the trees. After seeing them at Knepp, I was keen to see how they fitted into the urban landscape.
There are lots of pollarded lime and plane trees around the city, and the storks looked bizarrely prehistoric atop the pruned trunks:
They were also on top of a large building in the middle of Parc de l’Orangerie and we stopped to watch them as they cruised overhead.
I had brought my sketchbook and pencils, and Tristan very kindly agreed to indulge his old mum, and collaborate on a drawing with me. I haven’t done a dual-drawing since I went to Amsterdam ages ago, and we decided to draw the scene in front of us. I so appreciated T being game to do this as he doesn’t ever draw freehand, although he does enjoy using the drawing pad with his computer.
Here are some more photos of Strasbourg looking pretty in the spring sunshine. We even managed a quick glimpse in the cathedral as there wasn’t a queue, unlike the usual half-hour waiting time which is normal for the pre-Christmas season!
Have you seen the storks nesting in Europe? I really hope we start having them in our towns here in the UK.
