Tis the
season of Christmas lights and markets that have burst upon the city. Paris is not called the city of lights for nothing, but at Christmas time, the lights turn more even more abundant and colorful throughout the city, making it all a whirl of eye candy.
Christmas markets are a European tradition dating back to the very first in Dresden, Germany. The Christmas market in Strasbourg is the oldest one in France, having started in 1570, and now the largest one in the country with over 300 chalets.
In all of them, you will find many stands selling artisanal articles, some specifically made for Noel, and the rest offering unique gifts, if not bargains. I love going for the fun of looking more than buying and for the Christmas spirit that permeates the frosted air.
I have visited several in Germany, but I must admit that I prefer the ones in France for at least the heavenly food smells that I find much more titillating than in over sausaged Germany.
To visit the one in Strasbourg, you can easily spend a whole day there and just as easily get lost, which is great as the city and the canals are lovely. It probably has the most beautiful setting as it starts in front of the magnificent Cathedral, has an ice skating rink on the side and keeps spreading throughout the old city.
However lovely the one is in Strasbourg , I lean toward the one in Colmar, which is about 74 kilometers south. It is smaller, but retains and projects the medieval ambiance that one associates with these markets in the first place, as seen in a few photos.
There bonfires predominate with costumed dancers and musicians who stroll though the winding streets of this gingerbread house city. Whole roasted wild boar was slowly roasting on a spit and the vin chaud was flowing freely to warm frozen hands. Everywhere in Alsace-Lorraine is much colder and snowier that in Paris!
All the Christmas markets in Alsace Lorraine will have stalls selling multitudes of their fabulous Christmas cookies of all the flavors and shapes imaginable! Pain d’épice, which is the wonderful honey spice breads abounds too. Then there is sugar dusted Christmas stollens filled with almonds and orange and the chewy beerewecke cakes make of multiple marinated dry fruits and nuts.
Additionally there are puff pastries with various meat patés. Buttery soft pretzels called bretzels are everywhere as is the Flammekuchen, an Alsatian flatbread shaping liked a pizza but adorned with bacon, cheese and creme fraiche cooked over an open fire of wood or coals.
The most popular dish in all of Alsace is their deservedly famous choucroute garnie. I had never much like sauerkraut till I tasted the Alsatian version, made from their special fermented cabbages cooked with smoked bacon, hams and Montbéilard or Morteau sausages. Addictive and now my own rivals any in Alsace!
Vin chaud , which is red wine simmered with orange,cinnamon, cloves and lemon tastes and feels wonderful as it heats up your hands as you stroll around, especially with snow flakes falling.
In Paris there are several throughout the city, the largest ones at La Defense , and Le Champs Élysées, seen with their pointed white tents that start at Place Concorde with the huge ferris wheel. If you can not go to Alsace, then the market at Gare de L’Est train station brings the flavor of Alsace to Paris!
Soon Place Trocadero will open their market with an ice skating rink which will offer a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower in the background while gliding around!
All are guaranteed to elicit the child in us that marvels at the twinkling lights , the Christmas music, and the thought that Christmas is near. As I was coming home from the one on the Champs Élysées tonight, I even found myself humming Petit Papa Noel!