It is Ascension Day in France - a public holiday to mark the 40th day of Easter when Jesus ascended to heaven following his crucifixion. Even though we think of those days as religious holy days, here everyone has the day off. I tried to get into the Cathedral, but it was packed with people - some at mass and some just looking. They've been ringing the church bells for 2 days practically non-stop. Yesterday was also a holiday - Victory Day, the end of World War II in Europe. Consequently, it's been a little crowded on the streets since all the locals have both days off (and we heard most of them took Friday off as well for a really long weekend).
We walked around the "island." The central part of Strasbourg is surrounded by a canal. It's certainly easy to find your way around even though all the streets are twisting and paved with cobblestones, because you usually run into the canal after only a few blocks. We sat in this little plaza for a while; I sketched and Bruce fiddled with his Blackberry.
We went to a sidewalk cafe for a late afternoon lunch. I had a ham knuckle and spatzle. It's hard to tell the true size of this meal, but think of a plate that is about 14 inches across. That ham knuckle was huge.
