Strasbourg Christmas market - Day 2

First thing we did on Sunday morning, after sleeping in of course, was to go to the Christmas market for a sausage based late breakfast or early brunch... because honestly, one cannot properly go to a Christmas market and not eating sausages!

Rest and refreshed, we thought we should add some culture to our week-end and went to visit  the beautiful Strasbourg Cathedral. 

Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg is a wonderful exemple of Gothic architecture, it's an imposing building and the second tallest Church in France (the first one being Rouen's cathedral). The outside is so finely elaborated and inside the stained glasses are fascinating... But see for yourself the beauty of all that

And the outside...

Can you see the devil ?

This is why outside the Cathedral is often windy : the devil used to ride the wind to move around. One day he heard that he was represented on the front of Strasbourg Cathedral and he went there to see it. Once arrived at the Cathedral, he was amazed by the beauty of it and decided to go inside to see more. He didn't realize though that the Priest was beginning the Mass and he got trapped in the Church. The wind outside is still waiting for him. 

If you didn't find it yourself... you can see the devil in the second row from the top, the third sculpture from the left.

Outside the Cathedral, we also saw this plate to be open only on September the 22nd 3790 ! It contains things from our time for future generations to discover. I thought it's a nice idea, isn't it?

It's now time to discover some Alsatian architecture. Look at those little houses with those cute, little windows on the roofs... Doesn't it seem to be in a fairytale?

Although it's very nice to see if you live up there you must not have a very bright place...

But let's go back to the Christmas market! It's been a moment since I strolled among the little wooden chalets plus I need to buy scented soaps. I always buy scented soaps at Christmas markets. And yes it takes me forever to choose the perfumes...

Everyone having had enough of Christmas market, they took me away...

But as they took me to Christian, the best tearoom in Strasbourg, for tea and pastries... I wasn't even that annoyed ;p

We then split up, as Mick and I had an impossible mission to accomplish: to find all Christmas gifts for all our family in less than one afternoon!

We braved the crowd to go to the Galeries Lafayette...

...and it's perhaps the magic of Christmas, but we succeeded: in a couple of hours we had a gift for every single of our loved ones :)

By the time we finished our shopping, our time in Strasbourg was over though... We could just go back to the hotel to grab our luggages and hop on the train to Paris, but not before having had a last flammekueche for dinner and having marveled a little bit more at Christmas lights and decorations!

Strasbourg Christmas market - Day 1

Is it too late to write a Christmas post? ;)

Maybe... But outside it's so cold that I feel closer to Christmas than to spring... Yesterday it snowed too! And more important, this year we went to Strasbourg Christmas market which I've been wanting to visit for so long, that I cannot not to talk about it! ;)

I love Christmas markets, I could spend hours (days actually) wandering among the little wooden chalets, drinking hot wine and marveling at the lights, the decorations, the smells…

It’s something I discovered when I first moved to France as in Italy we don't really have a real tradition of Christmas markets. In Rome there’s a "Christmas market" but, honestly, when compared to the ones I saw here… It’s a totally different thing !

Strasbourg Christmas market is one of the oldest and biggest Christmas markets in Europe, there are a lot of stands and moreover the entire town is decorated! Apart from this, Strasbourg is a very pleasant place and there's a beautiful Cathedral.

So are you ready to visit it all? You couldn't have a better guide as one of our friends, with whom we spent the week-end, is from there ;)

To be totally honest the weekend didn’t began very well : we arrived late and tired on Friday night and found ourselves in the worst hotel I've ever seen (and trust me when I say that I saw horrible places during my travels, like in India or Thailand). Hotels in Strasbourg fill up very quickly during Christmas time and we really didn't have a choice... so if you want to go there try to book as much in advance as you can. Anyway, we didn't expect to be in a 5 stars palace, but neither did we expect the smell of sewage in the room, the curtains being grey because of dirty, that "bathroom" that was a prefabricated plastic box... All this for almost 100€/night... I think my bad mood was understandable - anyway, sorry my sweet hubby, I know it wasn't your fault ;p

Anyway my bad mood instantly disappeared on Saturday morning when I saw this glorious Christmas tree !!

The hot wine and bretzel breakfast also helped ;)

Now we were really ready to embrace the Christmas atmosphere and enjoy the week-end !

We strolled among the little stands in front of the Cathedral, drinking hot wine...

We met other friends in front of the blue bear

And we continue all together our walk through the little streets...

...To arrive to Little France, a historic, very cute neighborhood, with old Alsatian houses, cobblestones streets, the river...

All this walking made us hungry. We then went to Le Dome to taste some Alsatian specialities.

Flammekueche - a sort of very thin pizza with lardons, onions and fresh cream.

Bibeleskaes - potato and herbs cottage cheese.

They also have good coffee and cappuccino. Desserts on the other hand, weren't really good.

The place is very nice, just in front of the Cathedral, and with big windows, that if you're lucky to sit by, you can observe the world go by in the street below.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the other markets - in fact Strasbourg Christmas market is not one giant market but it's composed of several little markets spread around different corners of the town.

We then headed back to the hotel for a little rest - as if it was possible to rest in that smelly room... 

Not without passing by the big Christmas tree, to see it at night

Before meeting back the others for a Choucroute and Baeckeoffe based dinner.

I think it's safe to say that Alsatian cuisine is good but not very light...

To end this beautiful day, we went out for drinks and dancing :)

I'm probably going to avoid to show pics from after dinner... 

...Ok just 2, because they're funny ;) 

And tomorrow the rest of our adventures in Strasbourg !