In Love with Strasbourg

In Love with Strasbourg

MY BICYCLE DIARIES - CYCLING THE ALSACE REGION 2/4

MY BICYCLE DIARIES - CYCLING THE ALSACE REGION 2/4

After a yummy breakfast shared with my friend Christel with some chocolate cake left by Valentin the previous night, I’m back on the road! I cycle in Neudorf, my former neighbourhood, quite nostalgic, but with a strange feeling of not completely belonging there anymore. After all, that neighbourhood has changed a lot, it got a bit gentrified, and what once felt familiar is now mixed up with the foreign. Is it how it always goes with the places we used to cherish? The filters of the past can’t quite overlap the actual sceneries. We play the game of the 7 differences, with some eagerness, but also a bit of nostalgia, isn’t it? What’s left of our memories when the architecture is changing? Is there any memory set in stone?

MY BICYCLE DIARIES - CYCLING THE ALSACE REGION 1/4

MY BICYCLE DIARIES - CYCLING THE ALSACE REGION 1/4

Last year, end of September 2019, I cycled around my home region of Alsace (France) for a week. I started in Wissembourg, at the extreme north of the region, and cycled down to Basel in Switzerland. I cycled about 400km in total, on three different Eurovelo routes, I crossed two borders (Germany and Switzerland) and relaxed in three different spas along the way (because why not?) and, obviously, I experienced different weather conditions.

4 YEARS AGO I LOST MY DREAM JOB.

4 YEARS AGO I LOST MY DREAM JOB.

4 years ago, I stood up for a cause, I stood up for a job I still believe is one of the most beautiful jobs ever, I stood up for the importance of culture, and I stood up for my beloved co-workers. But moreover, and for the first time in my life, I stood up for myself. I could feel it in my guts: “Céline, if you don’t fight for yourself right now, you’re gonna regret this for the rest of your life.” So, I stood up and fought for myself. I just couldn’t sit and watch the ship sinking into the deep ocean.

WHY YOU SHOULD START TALKING TO STRANGERS #2 - ABOUT FLIRTING & INSPIRATION

WHY YOU SHOULD START TALKING TO STRANGERS #2 - ABOUT FLIRTING & INSPIRATION

I burst into laughter, and talk and talk about the New Zealand’s landscapes, about how easy it can be to travel once you make your mind about it. He tells me about London, Egypt, and those little dreams he has secretly stored in his heart. I can tell that he’s drunk too, Jason, for he’s sharing his secrets with any random woman that comes along in the streets.