Dateline: cruising the Rhine River. As I write this we are some miles/kilometers downstream from Basel, no longer in Switzerland and in territory that has been disputed between France and Germany for centuries – Alsace. Tomorrow morning we tie up in Strasbourg, adjacent to a barracks of the French Foreign Legion, or la Legion Etrangere, literally the “legion of strangers.” I’d read that the Foreign Legion was always garrisoned outside France but I know this barracks has been here for at least 6 years. It was here last time we were on this river cruise in 2003.
France gets a lot of mileage out of their Foreign Legion. When, for diplomatic reasons, they need to send troops to a dangerous and difficult place, they send the Legion. The body bags don’t go home to grieving families in France. There is a famous quote from a Legion commander to the effect that “It is your duty to die for France and my duty to send you where you can do that.”
Basel is one of those European towns that experienced a lot of grief as a result of the Reformation. The cathedral had most of the Roman Catholic decoration stripped out by the dour Protestants, leaving it relatively austere. On the other hand the town hall is highly decorated. It appears to be a city in which trolleys , motorcycles and bicycles are the main forms of transportation.
I rode the streetcars today and was impressed with their cleanliness, quiet, smoothness, and carrying capacity. The streets are narrow and winding, so the streetcars are narrow and multi-sectioned so they can twist and turn accordingly. Each train is made up of several short cars linked together and operated by a single driver. They climb hills, snake around corners, pass each other with inches to spare and cross the Rhine on bridges. Still, if you had to walk several blocks in the alpine winter to reach the line and then wait several minutes for it to arrive, the streetcars’ charm might be lessened.
