When Erich and Petra Mertens book a room at Ciarus, the entire team looks forward to hearing Erich's wit and wisdom, encountering Petra's wonderful smile and sharing anecdotes about the people they meet in Strasbourg with these slightly unusual guests.

This German couple has been coming regularly to Ciarus for 9 years now.It all started with the search for accommodation for the class accompanied by Petra Mertens, a teacher of civic education, history and French. The stay in Strasbourg has now become an annual event: tours of the European Institutions, Petite-France and Struthof are visits not to be missed.

But Erich, Petra's husband, a doctor of philosophy, needs to come back to Strasbourg to search through the archives of the city's libraries. His subject: Jung-Stilling, an 18th century German teacher and friend of Goethe: a highly erudite man who studied medicine in Strasbourg. Erich thinks of himself as the best researcher on this man in history. Petra helps him to communicate in French as he does not consider himself sufficiently proficient.

They chose Ciarus as their drop zone in Strasbourg because it's “as comfortable as a hotel, the service is excellent but really because it's much more welcoming here”. In the footsteps of Jung-Stilling and Goethe, Erich and Petra have made Ciarus their second home in France. Back in Germany, they become our ambassadors via the site set up by Erich which traces the life of Jung-Stilling: a page is dedicated to Ciarus: www.jung-stilling-forschung.de

Their programme:
8h: Breakfast
9h: departure for the library archives
12h: lunch at Le Plateau Afternoon: booksellers looking for books in Gothic script, Petra does a little shopping
19h: dinner at Ciarus
Evening: a round in the Ciarus bar and at the whim of meetings with drivers, foreign teachers, they reveal their favourite spots in this city which they find so captivating.
Erich's research is not finished yet. Maybe it never will be really. It's just for the pleasure of coming to Strasbourg… To our great delight.