Ending of Chapter 6b Sélestat: A Two-Day Trek (Day Two)

Here's someone bucking for a higher flower rating!

Ancient door across from a solar-powered parking meter.

Old inscription above is in German or Alsatian.

On the balcony to the right, one French inscription commemorates a visit to Sélestat by Louis XIV in 1681, 33 years after Alsace became part of France at the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648.Louis came here to "receive the hommage of the Magistrate of Strasbourg" - the kind of oath- swearing that would seal the deal on Alsace being French.

The inscription of the right side of the balcony below tells us that the heir to the throne (the Dauphin) visited in 1690 and his son the Duke of Burgundy came and stayed in this very house in 1703.

Note the stylized fleurs-de-lys in their honor.

A bit farther on, we caught sight of the colorful roof tiles of Saint George's Church.

Around the front, its Gothic spire soars above the entrance and the rose window.

As I stood on the curb waiting to cross to the entrance, a proud Selestadian made a point of telling me that there are three very fine, very old churches here. He pointed out the streets I should follow after visiting St. Georges.

Sélestat is known as the "City of Humanism" - so inside the church was this painting of Francis and Claire of Assisi. The banner over their portraits announces the "Parish Community of Sélestat, City of Humanists".

Beatus Rhenanus (1485 - 1547), an Alsatian humanist, religious reformer, and classical scholar, was a native of Sélestat. 

He spent his later years in his home city and in Strasbourg, where he wrote scholarly works and corresponded with many of the great minds of the day, including Erasmus.

He left his invaluable collection of books to his hometown, where they are still housed in the Humanist Library.

We managed one more beautiful church - the Église Sainte Foy.

The simple exterior walls were checkered with gray stone and pink vosgian sandstone.

Just stunning.

There was a plaque on the wall of the church school commemorating the entry of French troops into Sélestat in 1634 (time of Louis XIII, for you history scholars). Next to it was a list of French heads of state who had come to the city. There are some glaring omissions!!!

No one since 1976???!!!

Not Mitterand, Chirac nor Sarkozy!  I wonder how that's affecting the first round of the voting for president this weekend.

Another long day of touring ended and we pointed "Picasso" toward home.

This time the road is a multi-lane divided highway across the flat and fertile Alsatian plain.

Au revoir!