Christmas is coming...

I finally feel like Christmas might actually be coming after spending a couple of days in the Capital of Christmas/Capitale de Noel - Strasbourg.  Their Christmas Markets have been going since 1570.  The Christmas Tree as we know it, and many other modern-day Christmas traditions, originated from this area. So, I think they can rightly claim they are the capital of Christmas.  It was a magical weekend.  It was cold, but not as cold as it usually is, as this autumn is apparently the warmest since 1900.  However, it was still cold enough to wrap up with scarf, gloves and hat and to feel like the mulled wine was merited.  There were lights and decorations everywhere so it truly was beautiful.  As my friend Neila described it, it was 'féerique' (fairy-like/enchanting/like being in a fairy tale), and she was right.  We also happened to be there in time to see the biggest natural Christmas Tree in the world get all lit up for the start of the Christmas season.

The start of the weekend was a little stressful as we got on the wrong train and realised one minute before it was about to leave the station that it was the wrong train and we had four minutes until our correct train was about to leave and we still had to find it.  We were towards the end of a VERY long train and had to run to find the right train which was equally as long.  We made it with literally one minute to spare.  Then, once I'd sat down after a couple of minutes I wanted to check something on our return tickets, only to realise they weren't in my bag and I had lost them. Long story short I had to re-buy our tickets - an expensive lesson.  Once we got to Strasbourg we soaked in the atmosphere and wandered through all the little streets, beautifully decorated, stumbling upon little markets here and there before turning a corner and finding the main market in front of the massive, beautiful cathedral.

We went into the cathedral and discovered a beautiful interior with people recounting the nativity story.  So we sat down and enjoyed the performance.

Later, we ventured off to find our hostel. That ended up being quite a mission, we found it eventually, but only after wandering around getting lost for a bit.  Once we found it we went to the kitchen to cook our yummy dinner we had planned, only to find the hostel did not have anything to cook with apart from two micro-waves.  So, spring-rolls with stir-fry, cooked in a micro-wave, was an interesting meal.  The hostel was right on the edge of Strasbourg and right on the edge of the Rhin river, which is the border of France and Germany.  So, the next day we crossed the Pont du Rhin to check out Kehl, Germany.

Right in the middle between France and Germany

Once back in France, we were off to discover more of picturesque Strasbourg, to enjoy the markets and sample more good food.  Then it was a very early start Monday morning to get the 6am train back to L'Aigle (the one I paid for twice!!).