Strasbourg is only about 2 hours from Wiesbaden and it's in the Alsace region, which at several points in history, couldn't figure out to which country it belonged--to France or to Germany. Once it was decided and because of the winners, they speak French, but their food is influenced by Germany (think pork knuckle and potatoes with a delicious sauce, like Jen learned), and many people speak at least a little German.
We had fabulous food and some great wine. When we arrived and were walking in no particular direction, Kim was about to pass out from hunger and we stumbled upon a very nice restaurant. Everyone was very friendly and it helped we were willing to try without being demanding. Jen asked our waiter a recommendation for food and what arrived looked very much like corned beef. We were told it was pork, but it didn't taste like pork. Later that night, we figured out from someone else's plate at another restaurant that she probably had pork knuckle.
For Thanksgiving we had dinner reservations at a restaurant apparently popular with dignitaries. I got my escargot and foie gras. The foie gras was a little sweet for my taste, but the escargot was wonderful--not Petit Louis wonderful, but still wonderful. Our waitress was so nice. She only spoke French, but didn't do in an elitist way. She was clearly much more comfortable in French, but understood English. I can't explain it.
Thanksgiving appetizers: escargot and foie gras
The next day before we left, we stopped by the Strasbourg City Hospital, which has a wine cellar that was built in 1395 and contains ancient wine barrels and wine from the 17th century. We also did some clothing shopping and got some wine from the grocery store to take home.
