New York, Geneva and Strasbourg are the only cities in the world which are home to international institutions without being national capitals. The choice of Strasbourg as the European capital following the Second World War is no accident. The city stands as a shining symbol of reconciliation between peoples and of the future of Europe.
Discovering Europe’s institutions is also a great opportunity to admire some marvellous examples of contemporary architecture.
Tear your gaze away from that mesmerising Gothic cathedral for just a minute and you’ll be roaming the old town’s twisting alleys lined with crooked half-timbered houses à la Grimm; feasting in the cosiest of winstubs (Alsatian taverns) by the canals in Petite France; and marvelling at how a city that does Christmas markets and gingerbread so well can also be home to the glittering EU Quarter and France’s second-largest student population. But that’s Strasbourg for you: all the sweeter for its contradictions and cross-cultural quirks.
