Taxi Thionville → Strasbourg

The Thionville — Strasbourg journey links two regions with strong identities in eastern France: industrial, border-region Lorraine of the Three Borders Country, and Rhine-facing Alsace with its Germanic heritage and European vocation. You leave Thionville with its steelmaking memories, cross-border workers and tranquil Moselle, to cross all of Lorraine via the A31 then A4, passing Metz and its Centre Pompidou-Metz, before crossing the Vosges via the Col de Saverne and discovering the Alsace plain. Strasbourg is unique in France, home to the European Parliament, Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights, making it with Brussels and Luxembourg one of Europe's three capitals. The Grande Ile, the entire historic centre UNESCO-listed since 1988, is enchanting. Strasbourg Cathedral, a flamboyant Gothic masterpiece in pink Vosges sandstone, rises 142 m and was the world's tallest building for 227 years (1647-1874). Its astronomical clock (14th century, rebuilt 16th century) is a mechanical marvel. The Petite France quarter, with 16th-17th century half-timbered houses along the Ill, covered bridges and Vauban dam, is one of Europe's most photographed sites.