Joyeux Noel: Strasbourg Xmas Market

Joyeux Noel--that's Merry Christmas in French!  Strasbourg might just be my favorite city in Europe so far.  This past visit was the third time of been there and each time I fall more in love with the place.  While visiting us in Stuttgart two weekends ago, we took the Finch Family to Strasbourg since they'd never been and because it's an easy 2-hour trip from here (Yup, we've spent the last two weekends with these guys).    Before the Christmas Market season kicked off, my boss' wife posted a link on Facebook to an article on CNN.com about the 5 Great European Cities for Christmas Markets, of which Strasbourg is ranked fourth!  So we are officially one of 5 great Christmas markets and will hopefully get to the other four before our tours in Germany are over.  Whew!  That's going to be a lot of traveling because one is in Cologne (about a five-hour trip from here), and the others are in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Belgium.

Let me tell you...this place did not disappoint!

We got there in the late afternoon; pretty much just in time for all the lights to come on.  Many buildings were adorned with Christmas decor.  Most had themes!  Like that building on the corner behind me...

It was covered in teddy bears!  See?

Other buildings had just angels, or Santas or snowmen or whatever else.  It was amazing!  Even every street had a theme in lights...like these stars...

Or these huge lanterns...

Not sure what these lights were, but they were gorgeous.

Incredible.  Sina was enthralled by the lights too.  She kept saying "tee-tis-tee" over and over again (that's "Christmas Tree).  Cuteness.

We took the kids to the carousel with a perfect view of the cathedral.  Sina and I rode on the carousel four times.  This mommy was quite woozy afterwards, but it was all worth it just to see the smiles on Sina's face.

We shopped around at the many booths (bought some cool ornaments too!), snacked on some nutella-topped waffles and freshly roasted chestnuts (OMG, I love them!), and drank quite a few different gluhwein or vin chaud in French (because no two gluhwein are the same!).  We got our Strasbourg gluhwein mug and even had some warm, orange juice (which is mostly for the kids) that was pretty tasty!  Here are Malu and I in front of one of the food vendors.

Here are some other photos taken that day:

Left to Right:

Mattie standing in front of a booth selling ceramic dutch ovens and pans.  They were way too pricey for us!

Vats of the hot orange juice and vin chaud.

Sina and I on the carousel.

The Finch Family in a funny cut-out billboard.

Madisen and our little family having dinner at an Italian restaurant.  I had to crop out a very inappropriate picture of a naked lady behind us!  Only in France would they have naked lady pictures in a family restaurant.

And...

Madisen and I with her beautiful baby sister, Mackinley.

Everyone agreed that this Christmas market was well worth the trip.  I will personally never get tired of going to Strasbourg.  I'm already itching to go back!

Again...that's one down and four more major Christmas markets to go to!

One more to tell you guys about and I'll save that for tomorrow!

Happy Wednesday!

1st Birthday in Strasbourg

How many people will be able to say that they spent their first birthday (or any birthday really) in France?  I went to Strasbourg a few months ago and fell in love with it.  I knew that if my parents were ever to visit I would definitely take them there.  I figured it'd also make a perfect venue for Sina's special day.  That it was; not to mention, it was completely stress free for me.  I didn't have to worry about shopping, cooking, baking, decorating or preparing for a big party.  We just kept it simple...and from what we could tell, Sina had a marvelous time.  My mom and dad also enjoyed their first time in France, so it was a win-win all around!

In the morning, we let her open one of her gifts.  It came with a musical card that she just loved.  She danced to the music and had a grand ol' time playing with it. 

Then her daddy fixed her breakfast.  Banana pancakes....yummy!

I bought this outfit for her a year ago so that she could wear it for her first birthday.  Not too long after we put it on, she had it drenched with water.  She still looked so cute!

One of the first things we saw as soon as we arrived in Strasbourg was a carousel in the city square.  Sina got her very first carousel ride!  Both Malu and I were excited to get a ride as well.

We saw and visited the Dom Strasbourg (cathedral) and took some pictures of the interior as well as the astronomical clock.  Amazing!

We had a birthday lunch at a restaurant right outside the cathedral. 

Sina and her daddy danced on the cathedral square to a guy playing a saxophone.  I was lucky to catch a video of this as well.  Both this video and the one of her opening her musical card are posted to my Facebook page.

The stork is a main feature of the Alsace region of France (where Strasbourg is), so they had stuffed storks everywhere.  I couldn't help but get one for the birthday girl.

She got to walk all around the city, shopping with mom and grandma.  She waved to people all over the place.  There was a group of ladies that saw her waving and loved her outfit.  We told them it was her birthday, so they sang happy birthday to her in the middle of the city.  Sina just ate it all up, smiling and clapping the whole way through.

When we got home, we had dinner and cake.  Obviously, we had to help her blow out the bazillion candles we placed atop her cake.  By then, she'd heard the birthday song for the millionth time, but clapped and smiled even bigger this time.  To say she enjoyed her first piece of cake was an understatement.  She got all nice and messy!

Finally, we ended the day with more presents.

What a day...and we had one happy but tired little angel when it was all said and done.

The best part of it all was that my parents were here to celebrate the day with us.  It was their main reason for coming to visit and I'm so glad they did.  Sadly, today is their last full day here in Germany.  We'll be taking them to the aiport tomorrow morning.  I am dreading it!  We've enjoyed having them here and they'll truly be missed.

Happy Sunday everyone and once again, happy birthday to our darling little girl.  You have brought so much joy into our lives and we love you so very much!

Strasbourg, France {Part Deux}

Wow, I can't believe it's been a week since I posted Part I of my Strasbourg trip.  It has been a long and busy week.  Great news is that Malu and Sina are back and I feel whole again.  You wouldn't believe how much she'd grown in a week and a half.  Her bottom front teeth are now in, she can say "Dada" and she looks like she grew about three more inches.  Oy vey!

Anyway, here's the deal on the rest of my Strasbourg trip.  I'm sure most of you see a trend when I go to visit places.  I go to sightsee, but I also go to EAT!  Boy, did I eat.  I'd been to France before (to Paris), but it was quick one-day trip to Euro-Disney and I honestly don't remember what I ate that day.  On the bus ride to Strasbourg, I'd made up my mind about a few things regarding food:

1.  I was going to eat at a French restaurant.

Done!  I mean, why have pasta in France, right? I wanted real French cuisine!  Lorie and I found this cute little place not too far from the cathedral. 

 2.  I was going to try real French Onion Soup.

Done!  French onion soup is one of my faves!  I'm not sure why I expected this to taste any different than French soup in the States.  I actually decided that Ruby Tuesday's French onion soup is better, but it was still delicious and comforting given that it was still pretty cold in Strasbourg at that point.

3.  I was going to try something different.

Done!  Introducing...tarte flambee.  It's essentially a French pizza.  Actually, the crust had a texture very similar to a tortilla.  This one had onions and bacon on it.  And roquefort cheese.  Man, I'd heard that roquefort cheese was strong...and I love bleu cheese, but gosh, you could smell this thing from a mile away.  The first piece of this was okay, but I couldn't eat more than two.  The cheese was that strong.  Next time, I'm going with a milder cheese.  They had muenster and I'm not sure why I didn't opt for that in the first place.  At least I can say I tried something new.

4.  I was going to have creme brulee.

Almost done! I had the creme, hold the brulee. And it was drenched in caramel sauce. It was heavenly.

Even my friend Lorie had a delicious dessert.  I think it was some kind of strawberry cream pie.

Oh, and I never mentioned this before...Lorie and I have become good friends through work.  She's the budget analyst for our directorate and is just a sweetheart.  I invited her to go with me and I'm glad she agreed to be my companion for the day!  Even more...she's a fellow Coloradoan!

5.  I wanted to have a real crepe!

Done!  There were crepe stands everywhere.  Some within a few feet of each other.  I'd filmed a clip on my crepe being made, but I didn't feel like downloading it.  Banana and nutella.......need I say more?  They have tons of crepe places here in Stuttgart, but now I can say I've had a real French crepe. 

So glad I knocked out everything on my to-do list!

And here are a few more wonderful things about Strasbourg...

Souvenir stores galore.  I bought tons of postcards.  They had these ceramic dishes and those kugelhopf (bundt) pans everywhere.  I once came across a kugelhopf recipe in my Tuesdays With Dorie baking group years ago.  I had to buy a special pan to make it, but never actually made it.  Well, kugelhopf is very popular in this region of France, as well as Southern Germany and Austria.  I saw kugelhopf pans and cakes everywhere that day.  Who knows, maybe I'll dig out my kugelhopf pan this weekend and make some!

Amazingly, I abstained from buying any kugelhopf.  Not like I didn't eat enough at that point already.

I had some Gluhwein.

It's a hot, spiced wine.  Oh, it was delicious!  Can't wait to have more of that.  It's popular here in Germany too!

Like any other European city, there was a farmer's market.

Just the way I like it...bustling with people and good eats.  Or herbs and spices like these.

And fresh flowers.  So vibrant!

Sweets on every corner!

Including my favorite french macarons!

And finally....cafes on every corner as well.

A fruitful day, if I may say so myself.  It's a good thing it was a five-hour walking tour.  I had to burn off those calories somehow!

Strasbourg is one of my favorite cities so far and I'm definitely going back!  If anyone wants to go with me, let me know!

Strasbourg, France {Part "Un"}

This entire week, I'd been debating whether to spend my Saturday at a spa (not sure where the spa is but there was a one-day USO trip for it) or go to Strasbourg, France.  I asked for feedback on Facebook and everyone was telling me to go to the spa and the spa was a great idea at first--I didn't really feel like going to Strasbourg without Malu and Sina.  But on Thursday night, I asked my friend, Lorie, if she wanted to go and she agreed! 

I am sooooo glad that I didn't miss out on Strasbourg!  I loved it!  It was a shorter drive than our trip to Salzburg--about two hours.  And I enjoyed it more than Salzburg too.  Can you believe it?  Two hours and instantly, you're hearing a completely different language and experiencing a completely different culture.  Amazing!  I'm going to make this Strasbourg post in two parts because I have way too many pictures and I'd like to spread them out.  

For those of you that are interested in reading all about Strasbourg, I've linked this to Wikipedia here.  I've taken tons of pictures.  Yes, and because I did, I missed out on a lot of our tour guide's commentary about when buildings were built, the kind of architecture...that kind of stuff.  Sorry I wasn't more attentive. 

But Strasbourg, France is the capital of the Alsace region in Northeastern France.  It is situated on the Ill River, which flows into the Rhine River that borders France with Germany.  I took a lot of pictures like this, blocks of land linked by bridges and giving way to some of the most breathtaking views.  There were even boats that roamed the city.  I didn't get to ride though--maybe the next time we are there.

This portion of Strasbourg, which surrounds the city's cathedral (which you will see soon) is known as Petite France and is renowned for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland (German areas along the Rhine River) with its black and white timber-framed buildings.  Hidden among these buildings are shops and restaurants.  Lorie and I had lunch somewhere in there.  I'll post more about that tomorrow. 

When you first drive into the city, you are immediately captured by the city's landmark--the Strasbourg Notre Dame, or Roman Catholic cathedral.  It's spire towers over the city and was once the tallest building from the mid-1600s to the late 1800s--the Empire State Building of that day.  Today, it is surrounded by a huge shopping district in the middle of the city.  The cathedral is made of sandstone and the architecture and details that were given to the carvings, moldings, everything...is stunning.  I thought Paris' Notre Dame was the best I'd seen until yesterday and I spent a good portion of time there just staring at it  Take a look...I took a video in the cathedral square.  There was a guy performing, whom I thought was a lady.  He sounded great.

Here are my favorite pictures of the cathedral.

The front of the church.  The time when a really good camera would come in handy.  I couldn't get the entire facade.

This is toward the backside of the cathedral.  The cathedral is known for its astronomical clock.  It rings every quarter-hour and they say that parts of the church move when it does.

 

One of the cathedrals front doors.



Another front door.



My favorite picture.  Looking up to the spire from the front door.

A view of the cathedral from the shopping district.

We actually went inside the cathedral too and I tried to take good pictures of the stained glass windows.  Unfortunately, that was just too plain difficult to do.  It's way too dark inside there, but beautiful.  We also sat in there for good while just to take it all in and to say a prayer or two.

And that was just portion of our day.  For the most part, the weather was okay.  It was rainy and wet in the early morning (we started our tour at about 1000 hours).  Then, the sun peeked its way out around lunch time and then again towards the end of the day, which made touring a lot more comfy, but I still had to keep my jacket on.

I spent another good portion of our tour just people watching.  And seeing what people wear over here is very entertaining.  Some people are just way out there and look completely ridiculous.  Others are stunning (many of the French women, and I find it's the same for Germans) and it is amazing that, with all of the good eats around here that they all remain so thin.  Um, all the walking and biking helps out with that, I'm sure.

And I'll just throw this in....we noticed that the French don't care to pick up after their pets too much.  In all of the grassy areas that we saw....poop everywhere.  Even in the streets.  And I ended up stepping in some.  Worst part of my day.

  Tomorrow, I'll post more...and mostly about my favorite.....FOOD!  So stay tuned!

Oh, one more day until Malu and Sina get home!  Yay!