hello strasbourg

dear strasbourg,

how oh how did you know? how did you ever know that this little heart was so very exhausted and a bit fragile, and needed your charm and your cobblestone streets and big, fluffy meringue cookies to distract me from my own swirling brain? such a pleasure to meet you! and merci mille fois for providing the much needed and ohsowelcome entertainment for a couple of days. i did so adore your lovely, flower-lined bridges and the timber houses which are SO germany, but still so french as well. j’adore your cathedral – so impressive, strasbourg! and thank you, truly thank you, for that path along the river, where i wandered alone sunday morning, praying and thinking and having such a rare, quiet, reflective time. i really loved that.

and strasbourg, not sure if i can give you credit for la belle amber and her knee injury? but that too was perfectly timed, as the thought of running that half-marathon was causing me much angst! so thank you if that was your doing as well. truly. trading our weekend in munich for a spontaneous few days in your loveliness was simply perfection.

and thank you, THANK YOU for pointing us in the direction of that beautiful wine road through the alsace countryside. and for surprising us with the incredible charm of that sweet little village, riquewihn. the vineyards, the window boxes, the macaroon shops, the quiche lorraine for lunch and the wine tasting … c’est incroyable. i felt like meg ryan in that final scene of that movie, “french kiss,” where she’s traipsing through the vineyard (except i wasn’t actually traipsing through a vineyard, but you get the idea). pure loveliness.

and amber, sweet friend. how blessed i am to have met you! (merci mille fois to courtney for introducing us!!). what a beautiful weekend! i’m grateful for those long chats and for french onion soup and gewurztraminer and daydreaming out loud about a million different things and for those red, sugary candies that i’m now craving. thank you for hurting your knee and suggesting an adventure … loved every single minute. xo.