Thursday, December 4, 2008

Trip to France and Alsace Lorraine

When I was in England in 2002 I was fortunate enough to be part of the European Parliament Sandwell Youth Council Delegation that visited Strasbourg, France. Not too many people know that apart from the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels, there is another headquarter in Strasbourg, France. We visited the HQ in the month of October.

The trip was lovely. I remember that I finished reading Bonjour Tristess on this trip. We stayed in a number of different locations and visited many different places. One area we got to explore was the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, which borders Germany. Students of history will remember that it was this region that was in dispute during the deliberations for the Treaty of Versailles after the Germans were defeated in WWI. Strasburg is the capital of the Alsace-Lorraine region.

Le Struthof; Konsentrationslager Natzweiler; Natzweiler-Struthof

The only concentration camp in France is located in Vosges Mountains in Alsace. It's known by the above names depending on which language you're looking at it. We visited it as part of the trip and it sent shivers down my spine. I still remember when we entered the bunker where they talked about how the SS scientists used to experiment with some of the prisoners. Very very disturbing.

Alsace's patron saint: Sainte-Odile

She had a tumultuous history, a lot of which was not explained to us but the site of her convent atop a hill is a beautiful and peaceful site. I was lucky enough to visit it!!

EU Headquarters, Strasburg

The building was beautiful, and we got to sit in on a session of the EU Parliament. We also got to listen to a speech by Neena Gill, who was the West Midland's representative in the European Parliament. She was quite impressive.

Paris

Last but not least, ofcourse we spent a day in Paris. Paris is arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world and later on I would have a chance to explore it in greater detail. But for the time being, I got to see the city.. I also got to enjoy the ferry ride between Calais and Dover - a sight that everyone should see at least once because it is beautiful!!

One thing I regret was not finishing my copy of The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Imagine - I still haven't finished it!! On my wish list are books by Victor Hugo - Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, books by Simone de Beauvoir (The Second Sex), Emile Zola, Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary... and many more.

One of my favourite books till date remains "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas. Movies later have really changed the ending of the book though. However, anyone who wants to understand the key human emotion of REVENGE, should read this book.

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