Friendly Faces On Dôtonbori

Palais Universitaire de Strasbourg

In 1870, a broad coalition of German nations waged a war against France. Napoleon III's Second French Empire fell swiftly, and the Second German Reich formed on the back of this victory, with a Kaiser at its head. Germany annexed Alsace and Moselle, and had particularly grand plans for Strassburg, the capital of the region. While the city centre on the island was repaired after heavy shelling, the Germans decided to develop around it. To the North, the Neustadt, "New Town", was built, with, at its core, a wide avenue with a palatial residence for the Kaiser at one end, and a University Palace at the other, the storefront of a brand new campus complex. It's still part of the university today, with classrooms and all.

Completed in 1884 in a neo-Renaissance style as a monument to Germany's newfound power, the Palace is richly decorated with statues, ranging from effigies of Germania and Argentina - no relation, the Roman settlement at Strasbourg was called Argentoratum -, and historical figures of German science and thought: below, theologist Martin Luther, mathematician Gottfried von Leibniz, astronomer Johannes Kepler and educator Johannes Sturm. Though probably not a direct response, the Eiffel Tower would provide a similar list of French greats a few years later.

France regained Alsace following World War I, and would de-germanify several buildings in the Neustadt area. The home of Germania insurances became the Gallia building, and the effigy of Germania, restored below, was removed from the University Palace. A similar process would be undertaken in 1945, after Alsace was once again be annexed by Germany in 1940 - the University Palace would need de-nazifying.

However, a few symbols remain as a reminder of the Nazi oppression. In the grand hall, called the Aula, a subtle swastika appears among the geometric patterns on the floor. It sits in a corner, as lonesome as it is loathsome. I thought I had a picture of that swastika, but looking through my folders, I don't appear to have taken photos of the interior at all. I seem to remember thinking "nah, it's weird to take pictures of Nazi swastikas". It's still weird, right?

Sounds like a train, but isn't: the Saig to Titisee Rodelbahn

In fact, it's just a footpath. OpenStreetMap puts it at 1.2 km in length, and it's all downhill from Saig. A 165 m drop to be precise, which means an average gradient of nearly 14% - that is steeeep with four Es. In the winter, it should be covered in snow, and, with its four turns, you'd figure it would be a really cool route for tobogganing...

Well, that's what a Rodelbahn is, it's a sled/luge/toboggan track! If you look up the term, you'll come across summer Rodelbahns which are rides on rails (little roller coasters, I've seen one next to the Arzviller boat lift that I'll probably talk about one day, and the Bobbahn is a cracking bobsleigh-style ride at Europa-Park), but this is a natural Rodelbahn. Which runs on a hiking trail, so a few rules need to be laid out, such as pedestrians should hug the inside of the corners.

Most of the trail is in the forest, but once (if!) you reach the final stretch, the ride into Titisee with this view of the lake must feel incredible.

Notice on the left that the base of a pole has got some padding around it... That's not (just) for visibility in the snow! If you can zoom in that far, you might notice that the walls of the bridge at the bottom are padded too.

You'll probably be thinking "again!" once you've reached Titisee, but, as we joked with my sister, that "again!" won't come soon - you've got a long, steep climb back up to Saig first! Those numbers, 1.2 km and 14% gradient, aren't so amusing when starting from the bottom... And the train from Titisee to Schluchsee mentioned yesterday doesn't stop at Saig! XD

Châteaubriant: a regional rail hard border

Rennes and Nantes, the largest cities in the Western tip of France, could have three direct rail routes connecting them. The one via Redon has always been used in this role; a second, via Laval and Angers, was ridiculously long until the high-speed line to Laval opened and 200 km/h-capable units were adapted for use on it; and a third... has been cut off at Châteaubriant.

The irony is, the Châteaubriant route would be the shortest in distance, at just over 120 km in length, in a fairly simple North-South direction. The trouble is, the line wasn't built with the traffic between the two cities in mind, is mainly single track, and has some steep inclines (1.5% is steep for a train). As such, it has always seen modest levels of traffic, and since the 1980s, it had been falling into disrepair in parts, and become abandoned in others.

The Nantes side saw a resurrection in the early 2010s: the line was electrified and, in 2014, tram-trains began operating. We've seen a tram-train on this blog before, but this service is only technically a tram-train, as it only uses a tram line parallel to the urban tram for a few kilometres inside Nantes, and only making one stop on that stretch. The Alstom Citadis Dualis (SNCF class U 53500) units are effectively regional trains in tram clothing, and are the only tram-trains in France to have onboard toilets.

But in France, local trains are managed by the administrative regions, and Nantes to Châteaubriant is under the authority of Pays de la Loire, so the electric wires, renovated stations and new trains went no higher. Worse, the line has been cut in half by a platform link, as shown above - and a photo on this webpage seems to indicate they used to be joined. So the Rennes side, managed by Bretagne region, has remained without electric power. I remember the stark contrast between the two sides of the regional border when I visited in early 2020: to Nantes, modern infrastructure and trains; to Rennes... nothing, and tracks that were starting to be overgrown!

It turns out the line was indeed closed for repair works at the time, and in 2021, Rennes to Châteaubriant reopened, with first-generation bi-mode Bombardier AGC (B 82500) sets, which only use Diesel power on this route, operating a peak-only service.

In conclusion, the Rennes-Châteaubriant-Nantes route has always been in the shadow of the slightly longer route via Redon, as the latter provided good connections to other major towns on the South Brittany coast: Vannes, Lorient and Quimper. The Châteaubriant route was never double-tracked, and today is a striking illustration of regionalisation, with different levels of investment on either side of the border, and through service now impossible.

As the maths problems take a break, maybe we can have a brief pub quiz. So...

Q. What's that building on the 10-yen coin?

A. The Phoenix Hall at Byôdô-in, Uji.

Initially built as a villa by a member of the Minamoto clan just before the year 1000, the land was sold not long after to members of a rival clan, the Fujiwaras, who turned it into a Buddhist temple named Byôdô-in in 1052. The most striking feature of the temple is the Amida Hall, which with time gained the name Phoenix Hall due to its overall appearance: the two outer corridors are the wings, and a corridor extending behind is the tail.

At the same time, tea production was picking up in Uji, and by the 14th century, Uji tea had become well renowned. I need to go back there someday, my first visit was just an afternoon flick after completing the climb of Mt Inari in the morning. I thought of going back there in the summer of 2023, but couldn't quite make time for it.

I mentioned a train accident that was local to the Strasbourg area - here's an air crash on Mont Sainte Odile that truly shocked the Alsace region. There is a memorial on the mountain, I should visit and pay respects some day.

It's time to go back to Kashihara, and let's start by meeting the local animals!

I'm getting real "fancy pants" vibes from the cat! But to be fair, it is a darn good looking cat.

That is all until I think of something more intricate to talk about.

Here we are: Miminashi-yama

When I visited Kashihara, looking to explore some deep Japanese history in the former province of Yamato, I expected to move around a bit, but there was actually enough in Kashihara itself to make for a busy day.

First up was this curious green round space in the middle of a residential area on the town map I'd picked up. It just seemed conspicuous to me, I decided to check it out.

This is Miminashi-yama, one of the Yamato Sanzan, or Three Main Mountains of Yamato. Though it stood out on the map and it does stand out in the plain around it, it's not huge, and it's a short climb to the top where a shrine awaited.

In that shrine, a sangaku geometry tablet is displayed. By chance, based on a whim, I had found one! Nearly six years on, I've finally solved it - it's not very difficult mathematically, it's just taken me this long to get on with it, having said that, even today I'm still figuring out extra things on it! - and will be presenting it at a conference tomorrow. I wouldn't have thought it at the time... I guess curiosity didn't kill the cat that day!

MV Bretagne's final crossing

I haven't got my eye on the Channel as much as I used to, so I only found out last weekend that this ship had its final run on the night of 3-4 November.

Bretagne was Brittany Ferries' first purpose-built cruise ferry, launched in Saint Nazaire in February 1989 and entering service in July of that year. At over 150 m in length, appointed with over 350 cabins and a higher level of comfort than other ferries in service at the time, she was designed to be the company's flagship, sailing the longest routes to Spain and Ireland.

As tourism between the UK and continent became more popular, Brittany Ferries' fleet of cruise ferries expanded further in the early 90s, to the point where Bretagne was no longer the company's largest ship by 1993. While Val de Loire took over the Portsmouth-Santander route, Bretagne became a regular on Portsmouth-St Malo, serving her namesake region. So, in the summer of 1994, it was she who carried my family over to new lives in France.

While not my favourite ferry, Bretagne is a particularly important one on a personal level. So it was nice to catch her by chance departing St Malo in July 2019, around her 30th anniversary. Five years later, and she would pass behind the islands off the Corsair City for the final time, bound for Le Havre to await her sale.

Kenavo, Bretagne!

The Fog on the Rhine (is all mine, all mine)

After three weeks of marking, I finally managed to get out of my hole in late January. I was beckoned out by dense fog, seizing the chance to enjoy the misty atmosphere. When I reached the park that straddles the French-German border, I found it on the edge of a fog bank, with haze on one side of the footbridge and perfectly clear skies on the other.

While not among the most outstandingly beautiful parks, the Jardin des Deux Rives has things to offer on both sides of the border, and, just for that ability to hop over to another country, it ranks very high on the cool factor.

Not that the birds would know. They were just taking in the winter sunlight while they could.

Japan Weekend coming up!

This weekend, in fact! Every April, Strasbourg hosts some ekiden running races, and a festival of Japanese culture on the side. Taiko drums, shamisen, martial art demos including kyûdô and aikidô, Japan-inspired artists, food... and games like shôgi and mah-jong, the latter of which I will be partaking in as a member of the Strasbourg club. So if perchance you are in Strasbourg this weekend, pop by!