Strasbourg
by JFC AdminI had no expectations whatsoever for the trip to Strasbourg. Looking for something more relaxing than usual visits to main cities, somewhere to spend a few days to relax without really knowing anything about the place.
The hotel was the 3 star Mercure Strasbourg Gare Centrale, as the name states it is opposite the central railway station. It wasn’t a bad hotel, it had a nice bar area, the room was comfortable although basic and the hotel offered a nice continental breakfast.
The room was fairly similar to other Mercure hotels that are at the 3 star level. The bathroom had both a bath and shower, the TV had the usual selection of local channels but the only English speaking channel was BBC World (no CNN), the thermostat in the room worked well making it possible to set a comfortable temperature, I have problems in some hotels setting my preferred temperature. Unlike most Mercure hotels there was no mini-bar, that can be a good thing as it means it’s possible to resist the temptation of emptying it after a night out and adding a fortune to the hotel bill. This room did not have a balcony, but some rooms do, if you’d like a balcony it’s probably worth requesting it at time of booking. The view was of the central station, at the moment it’s a construction site as they’re enhancing the station, this work should be complete by June 2007. The windows blocked out any construction noise so that wasn’t a problem.
At the time of our visit there was not many guests staying at the hotel this meant that the hotel bar was not permanently staffed, it was up to the staff at the adjacent reception desk to also serve the bar. This worked surprisingly well, the receptionist (never noted her name) was very helpful, would always appear when the drinks were coming to an end, suggested places to go in the town and even offered to book restaurants for us. A 3 star hotel where one member of staff helped create the impression of 5 star service my acting as a receptionist, bar tender and concierge in one.
A good way to explore Strasbourg is to cycle, the roads are fairly quiet and there’s good coverage with cycle lanes, it would also be a good place to drive if this is your first experience driving in another country. The area is fairly flat so makes walking and cycling fairly straightforward, it’s also close to the border of Germany.
Strasbourg has a very relaxing feel about the place, although this means a lot of places are closed on a Sunday. There’s very little grafitti or other forms of vandalism and offers a mixture of both traditional and modern styles. Not somewhere you’d want to go for a lively time, but ideal for somewhere to relax and forget about the hectic working lifestyle of London.
The closet German town is Kehl, as both France and Germany are members of the Schengen Agreement it means there’s no border controls between the countries so you’re free to walk, cycle or drive across the bridge over the border. There’s still the remains of the checkpoint at the French side of the bridge but now just used as a police station, no traffic is stopped at the border.
Trains between Strasbourg and Kehl are also available and take under 10 minutes.
The return flight was on Air France via Paris Charles de Gaulle. There’s two direct flights from Strasbourg to Gatwick operated by AF regional subsidary Brit Air but their times of arriving back into London were too early and too late respectively.
First leg of the trip was on flight AF7771 departs Strasbourg at 15:00 and arrives in Paris CDG at 16:10, the connecting flight AF2070 to London Heathrow departs at 17:00 so there’s a connecting time of 50 minutes between flights. This is the first time I’ve connected at CDG and I’ve heard it’s not the best place to make a connection so I was somewhat concerned about making the connection.
AF7771 departed on time, I didn’t spend much time at the airport so never did find out if Air France has a lounge at Strasbourg. Catering consisted of a choice of drinks both alcoholic and non-alcoholic but wine was not available. No sandwich on this route just a choice of ’sweet or salty’ snacks. Landed slightly early, there were plenty of vacant gateside parking spots at terminal 2D however we parked at a remote stand. The reason for this becomes apparent later. As there were not that many people on the aircraft one bus was sufficent to get us to the gate, the bus was not packed.
Terminal 2D is exclusively used for Schengen and domestic traffic so this meant exiting this terminal area and walking to 2F was a fairly simple task. The walk took about 10 minutes to get to 2F. The queues at passport control and for security were short so arrived at the gate with enough time to spare although they had already started boarding.
Yet again there was a single bus, but there was more passengers for this flight and by the time the bus was ready to leave it was getting packed like the rush hour buses in central London. It was getting quite uncomfortable standing on a stationary bus until they had boarded all the passengers. The bus then took us to the same aircraft that we’d just alighted from, this explains why it was at a remote stand. It needed to be at the Schengen gate for the domestic leg and an international gate for the London leg. Different crew, flight service was similar although they had wine on board this time too, no sandwich just a ’sweet or salty’ snack yet again. Personally I don’t think a sandwich is needed on a route of this length, although KLM does offer a sandwich on all their short haul flights, the drinks selection offered by Air France in economy is greater than that offered by KLM on short haul routes.
Trip verdict:
Strasbourg is a good place to go to relax, hire a bike and take in some nice scenery and improve your fitness.
The direct flight from Gatwick is definitely the best option if the flight times suit you. I was not impressed with CDG as a transfer airport, although if they’d put on an extra bus at the gate then there would have been a much more comfortable service to the aircraft and those that who boarded early would not have to face the uncomfortable experience of having to stand up on a packed bus waiting for the latecomers to arrive. This does not really give anyone an incentive to go to the gate earlier than necessary.