IP & Art

This time, I decided to look for famous places in the northeastern region of France. More than 300 km from Paris, I went to Nancy, famous for Alphonso Daudette's last class. Even at first glance, the city was as beautiful as an artificial model. It felt like a more artificial beauty was added than in a typical French city, so it was not without regret that it lacked naturalness.

This area is said to be a border area, so Germany and France alternately occupied the territory. So it had a sad historical origin like that famous last class. It was very disappointing that I couldn't see it in detail due to time constraints, but I decided to make an appointment for the next one and headed to the next destination, Strasbourg.

Strasbourg, famous for its beautiful canal city, is more than 100km away from Nancy. When I visited the city, the scale of the city was quite large, and a river was flowing in the center of the city, so it was well known that the surrounding buildings were in harmony with the beautiful buildings. In fact, the whole city was considered beautiful.

Strasbourg is said to have become even more popular because of the presence of the European Union's National Assembly. There was a demonstration going on in front of the building that looked like a parliament. It was surprising that the EU National Assembly, an important EU body, along with the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, was located in a somewhat remote area in France. Perhaps it was the French-German border that attracted them.

It was a pity that the famous Notre Dame Church could not be seen in detail due to circumstances, but it was enough to feel its beautiful appearance from a distance.

About 5km from Strasbourg, you can see the small town of Obernay. It seemed to be a small town more beautiful than any other city in France. Upon entering the village, the charming beauty was revealed. While Strasbourg is quite large and also bustling with a significant number of people, Obernet is just an idyllic little town. It was considered one of the most beautiful small towns in France that I had ever seen.

The region connecting Strasbourg and Colmar was the most famous region for wine origin in the past, but many vines were burned during World War II, and in the process of replanting young vines, the center of wine origin moved to Bordeaux. However, the region's white wine is still famous.

Obernet, a small but very romantic small town that I unexpectedly encountered on this visit, made a very strong impression and seemed to remain in my deep memory.

If you go more than 60km again, you will come to the famous Colmar. Colmar is also widely known as the home of the sculptor Bartoli, who created the Statue of Liberty. It is also widely known as a beautiful city in the northeastern part of France. However, I was not impressed as much as I thought because it was right after I had already seen Strasbourg and Obernet. On the contrary, it was somewhat disappointing.

It is true that it is a relatively small town, well-organized and beautiful in its own way, but it is because I felt it was a pity that it did not give a very strong impression like Strasbourg or Obernet.

For example, Strasbourg was a symbol of a beautiful city with a relatively large canal and beautiful buildings. Obernet is a very small, compact, and very charmingly beautiful small town. On the other hand, Colmar is a relatively small city, and although it is a small and beautiful city, it has a weak personality compared to the two cities.

However, it seems that all three cities share a border with Germany, so although they are French cities, they have a somewhat German atmosphere at the same time. So, from the outside, it was a little more angular, as is often seen in Germany.

These features also showed a different charm from the beaches and mountainous terrain of southern France. Furthermore, I was able to feel a little more medieval atmosphere in appearance and so on. In other words, it was creating a more conservative atmosphere than the beaches and mountainous areas of southern France. In summary, the scenery of buildings and other areas in these areas basically shows a free-spirited French aspect, but also exudes a rather conservative German aspect with a medieval atmosphere.