My Weekend Trip to Strasbourg, “Capitale de Noël”

After Class on Friday night, I got on a train to Strasbourg, France. I arrived at the train station around 11:30pm, where my friend Géraldine, an exchange student I met during high school, was waiting for me. It was so strange because in high school, we had spoken only English together and now we were speaking only French together. We slept in her apartment that night in Strasbourg, where she studies.

The next morning, we slept in late and ate breakfast. We then walked to the Christmas Markets. Strasbourg is very well known for their Marches de Noël so I have been anticipating this trip since my arrival in September. I was not disappointed; there were nearly 20 different markets that we found within the city center and around every corner, there were new markets and stands to look at. There were so many people at the market. French, Italian, English, and German were among the most languages spoken in the streets. It was fascinating to me that everyone was celebrating the Christmas season together in this way, no matter what language they spoke!

After walking around for a few hours observing and shopping, we got lunch at one of Gégé’s favorite restaurants. We ate tarte flambée, which is sort of like pizza!

After lunch, we ventured back out into the cold and found the Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame. As we admired the view, we drank mulled wine and caught up with each other. We took a little while longer to stroll through the markets and to look at the beautiful buildings and city. Shortly after, we got on a train to Colmar, France where Gégé’s Mom and Step-Father live.

After arriving to Colmar a short 20 minutes later, we were welcomed by Gégé’s family where I was taught about the specialties of the region. Her mom graciously taught me how to make tarte flambée that we ate as an appetizer. For the main dish, we ate bacheofe, an Alsatian meat and vegetable stew. It was SO good! We also were able to taste a special white wine from the region. We ate cake with cherries on top and had great conversation. After dinner, we all helped to decorate their family’s Christmas tree.

The next morning, we ate kugelhopf, a specialty brioche. Gégé’s family drove me to the edge of the city where we could see a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty. The creator, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was born in Colmar! We were then dropped off at the Christmas Markets. While Colmar’s markets were a little smaller, they were just as amazing! We shopped and explored, ate knepfle noodles, and drank hot chocolate.

I am a huge fan of Christmas and fitting in all the festivities possible so this weekend was perfect for me! If you’re in France during December, you must go. And even if you can’t make it to the Christmas Markets, make sure to take a few weekend trips within France to see a little more of the country and learn about the different regions and their specialities! Some of my suggestions include Bordeaux, Lyon, and Nice!

Neely Hoegen

Carthage College