By Pete Scully in Strasbourg, France
Last month, I had the great pleasure of visiting the city of Strasbourg, in Alsace, north-eastern France, for the third annual Urban Sketchers France 'Rencontre Nationale'. This was a weekend of pure sketching, wandering, meeting other urban sketchers, soaking in an amazing city. I had first visited Strasbourg twenty years ago on an exchange trip, and have been back a few times, but not in the past ten years, and not since I've been sketching like I do now. As someone obsessed with the magnificent and massive cathedral, and with timber-framed houses and riverside scenes, Strasbourg is the perfect city to sketch. Above, the famous view down the Rue Merciere towards the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Strasbourg, which is a thousand years old this year (the first stone was laid in 1015 by Bishop Werner von Habsburg).
One of the most picturesque parts of the city is the area called Petite France, located where the river Ill breaks off to form the Grand Ile (the main island upon which old Strasbourg is built), splitting into several canals spanned by narrow footbridges and locks. I sat for a couple of hours and sketched the scene above, which shows the 16th century Maison des Tanneurs next to the timber-framed loveliness of Place Benjamin Zix, named for an artist from this area who worked during the Napoleonic era.
Petite France actually gets its name from a nickname for the disease syphilis, as this was the area where French soldiers who had fallen ill with the disease while fighting in Naples were housed and treated. Strasbourg (and Alsace in general) has a long history of going between France and Germany (or being part of the Holy Roman Empire), and syphilis was nicknamed the 'French disease' by the German-speaking population. Much of the architecture in Strasbourg feels very reminiscent of towns in Germany, but it's wrong to tie Strasbourg historically to one 'realm' or the other - it is historically as much French as German. The city literally lies at the crossroads of Europe - while the Romans called it Argentoratum, the name 'Strasbourg' meant the settlement at the roads (Strassburg in German, Strossburi in the local Alsatian language, a dialect of low Alemannic-German which is still widely spoken in the city today). In fact the historic Oaths of Strasbourg signed in the city in 842 provide possibly the earliest written evidence of the French language as distinct from the Latin found elsewhere in the former Roman empire. These oaths were written in Old French (or 'Romance' as they preferred), Old High German and Medieval Latin, and effectively formed a pact between two of the grandsons of Charlemagne, Charles the Bald (ruler of West Francia, roughly the western portion of modern France) and Louis the German (ruler of East Francia, roughly where most of modern Germany is today), against their elder brother Lothair (current Holy Roman Empire and ruler of middle Francia, roughly analogous to the modern Netherlands, Belgium, Burgundy, down to Provence and Northern Italy). Strasbourg is in the dead centre of the Carolingian empire, and being at the geographic centre of the original pre-expansion European Union, it was chosen as one of the capitals and the European Parliament was place here (and also in Brussels). Strasbourg has been a big deal for a long time.
Yet despite that strategic importance and its historic role as a European crossroads, it doesn't feel like a big, self-important overcrowded metropolis - quite the opposite. I've always liked the relative calmness of Strasbourg compared to the other European cities I've spent time in, even Aix. That tranquility is never more noticeable than down by the river. Strasbourg has a lot of access to waterways, located around several branches of the river Ill, and its eastern edge borders the banks of the Rhine, marking the modern frontier with Germany. I like it by the river Ill though, circling the Grand Ile, and down on the riverbank there are lots of spots to sit and read, or of course sketch. Above is the Pont St. Thomas, sketched from the Quai Finkwiller, while below is the Pont du Corbeau.
Also located on the river is the late nineteenth century Eglise St.Paul, where the river Ill is joined by the river Aar. I sketched this from the tram stop on one of the other bridges. While not as spectacular and old as the Cathedral, its location is beautiful. It was built during a period when Strasbourg was part of Imperial Germany, and was constructed for the Lutheran German soldiers garrisoned here.
I was here for the Urban Sketchers France Rencontre, of course, the third annual meet-up of sketchers from all over France (and other neighbouring countries). There was a strong Belgian contingent, and it was great to see old sketching friend Gerard Michel and his nephew Fabien Denoel here, as well as meeting Dutch urban sketcher Rene Fijten for the first time. I also met some sketchers who I knew from previous Symposia such as Corinne Raes and AMrtine Kervagoret. Each evening the sketchers would congregate at the Cafe Atlantico, on the banks of the River Ill, to share each others sketchbooks and enjoy a beer. I don't know how many sketchers attended the Rencontre in total, but it was more than 150 I believe. I sketched part of the crowd above. On the Saturday evening, a large crowd of us went to the Brasserie de la Bourse to speak French (very badly in my case), swap sketchbooks and eat plentiful amounts of the local specialty, Tarte Flambée. I saw some amazing sketchbooks, notably those of Nicolas Doucedame, Vincent Desplanche, Sophie Navas, Caroline Manceau and of course Gerard Michel. Now I did try to sketch people, but after a day of architecture and rivers I was a bit rusty on the portraits, so I gave up using ink and made a portrait of Gerard using a more local material...
I spent three days in total exploring and sketching Strasbourg at my own leisure, before heading back to London. It was great to reconnect with other sketchers, and also with a city I used to love but had almost forgotten. I spent time in old bookstores, eating delicious food, getting lost in narrow streets. I was even pleased to find that they had fire hydrants.
If you want to read even more about my visit, you can visit those posts on my sketchblog. For more information about Urban Sketchers France, visit their website (it is in French). The Rencontre was organized superbly by Lolo Wagner, and he has posted many photos from the event on Flickr.
Oh, and here is a map showing all the places I sketched...
Last month, I had the great pleasure of visiting the city of Strasbourg, in Alsace, north-eastern France, for the third annual Urban Sketchers France 'Rencontre Nationale'. This was a weekend of pure sketching, wandering, meeting other urban sketchers, soaking in an amazing city. I had first visited Strasbourg twenty years ago on an exchange trip, and have been back a few times, but not in the past ten years, and not since I've been sketching like I do now. As someone obsessed with the magnificent and massive cathedral, and with timber-framed houses and riverside scenes, Strasbourg is the perfect city to sketch. Above, the famous view down the Rue Merciere towards the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Strasbourg, which is a thousand years old this year (the first stone was laid in 1015 by Bishop Werner von Habsburg).
One of the most picturesque parts of the city is the area called Petite France, located where the river Ill breaks off to form the Grand Ile (the main island upon which old Strasbourg is built), splitting into several canals spanned by narrow footbridges and locks. I sat for a couple of hours and sketched the scene above, which shows the 16th century Maison des Tanneurs next to the timber-framed loveliness of Place Benjamin Zix, named for an artist from this area who worked during the Napoleonic era.
Petite France actually gets its name from a nickname for the disease syphilis, as this was the area where French soldiers who had fallen ill with the disease while fighting in Naples were housed and treated. Strasbourg (and Alsace in general) has a long history of going between France and Germany (or being part of the Holy Roman Empire), and syphilis was nicknamed the 'French disease' by the German-speaking population. Much of the architecture in Strasbourg feels very reminiscent of towns in Germany, but it's wrong to tie Strasbourg historically to one 'realm' or the other - it is historically as much French as German. The city literally lies at the crossroads of Europe - while the Romans called it Argentoratum, the name 'Strasbourg' meant the settlement at the roads (Strassburg in German, Strossburi in the local Alsatian language, a dialect of low Alemannic-German which is still widely spoken in the city today). In fact the historic Oaths of Strasbourg signed in the city in 842 provide possibly the earliest written evidence of the French language as distinct from the Latin found elsewhere in the former Roman empire. These oaths were written in Old French (or 'Romance' as they preferred), Old High German and Medieval Latin, and effectively formed a pact between two of the grandsons of Charlemagne, Charles the Bald (ruler of West Francia, roughly the western portion of modern France) and Louis the German (ruler of East Francia, roughly where most of modern Germany is today), against their elder brother Lothair (current Holy Roman Empire and ruler of middle Francia, roughly analogous to the modern Netherlands, Belgium, Burgundy, down to Provence and Northern Italy). Strasbourg is in the dead centre of the Carolingian empire, and being at the geographic centre of the original pre-expansion European Union, it was chosen as one of the capitals and the European Parliament was place here (and also in Brussels). Strasbourg has been a big deal for a long time.
Yet despite that strategic importance and its historic role as a European crossroads, it doesn't feel like a big, self-important overcrowded metropolis - quite the opposite. I've always liked the relative calmness of Strasbourg compared to the other European cities I've spent time in, even Aix. That tranquility is never more noticeable than down by the river. Strasbourg has a lot of access to waterways, located around several branches of the river Ill, and its eastern edge borders the banks of the Rhine, marking the modern frontier with Germany. I like it by the river Ill though, circling the Grand Ile, and down on the riverbank there are lots of spots to sit and read, or of course sketch. Above is the Pont St. Thomas, sketched from the Quai Finkwiller, while below is the Pont du Corbeau.
Also located on the river is the late nineteenth century Eglise St.Paul, where the river Ill is joined by the river Aar. I sketched this from the tram stop on one of the other bridges. While not as spectacular and old as the Cathedral, its location is beautiful. It was built during a period when Strasbourg was part of Imperial Germany, and was constructed for the Lutheran German soldiers garrisoned here.
I was here for the Urban Sketchers France Rencontre, of course, the third annual meet-up of sketchers from all over France (and other neighbouring countries). There was a strong Belgian contingent, and it was great to see old sketching friend Gerard Michel and his nephew Fabien Denoel here, as well as meeting Dutch urban sketcher Rene Fijten for the first time. I also met some sketchers who I knew from previous Symposia such as Corinne Raes and AMrtine Kervagoret. Each evening the sketchers would congregate at the Cafe Atlantico, on the banks of the River Ill, to share each others sketchbooks and enjoy a beer. I don't know how many sketchers attended the Rencontre in total, but it was more than 150 I believe. I sketched part of the crowd above. On the Saturday evening, a large crowd of us went to the Brasserie de la Bourse to speak French (very badly in my case), swap sketchbooks and eat plentiful amounts of the local specialty, Tarte Flambée. I saw some amazing sketchbooks, notably those of Nicolas Doucedame, Vincent Desplanche, Sophie Navas, Caroline Manceau and of course Gerard Michel. Now I did try to sketch people, but after a day of architecture and rivers I was a bit rusty on the portraits, so I gave up using ink and made a portrait of Gerard using a more local material...
I spent three days in total exploring and sketching Strasbourg at my own leisure, before heading back to London. It was great to reconnect with other sketchers, and also with a city I used to love but had almost forgotten. I spent time in old bookstores, eating delicious food, getting lost in narrow streets. I was even pleased to find that they had fire hydrants.
If you want to read even more about my visit, you can visit those posts on my sketchblog. For more information about Urban Sketchers France, visit their website (it is in French). The Rencontre was organized superbly by Lolo Wagner, and he has posted many photos from the event on Flickr.
Oh, and here is a map showing all the places I sketched...
