Christmas

Lori and I had a very quiet and relaxing Christmas this year. I must admit that I have been growing a little weary of life in Paris. A combination of grey skies and too many people, but the festive season has boosted my spirits.

On Christmas Eve we stayed very French with Foie Gras and Champagne.

We had the Foie Gras with slices of Pain d'Épices (which is essentially gingerbread) and a fig and balsamic vinegar compote. I could talk about the spice of the bread with the creaminess of the foie and the tartness of the compote, but Lori summed it up best when she said it tastes like Christmas. It was very good.

On Christmas Day however, we reverted to our old standards. Bacon and eggs for breakfast and turkey for supper.

The turkey was leaner than we are used to and it had more feathers than I like, but it was very good. We had the traditional french dessert of bûche de Noël.

It was a great holiday season for us. The only thing that was missing was friends and family. Last year when we stayed in Paris, we had our friends Linda and Colin visiting us but we were alone this year. Next year we are going to Newfoundland for Christmas. Instead of quiet and relaxing it will be loud and chaotic, but we will be around friends and family so it will be fun. Famous last words.

db

Bière de Noël

For our trip to Strasbourg last week, we took the high speed TGV train and when I say high speed, I mean high speed. While we were on board, it topped out at 319 km/h. Anyway, because we were on the train, I took advantage and brought home lots of beer. The Alsace region is the home of beer in France. There are lots of craft breweries and brew pubs and they all brew Christmas beer. It's usually stronger than normal and they will add spices like cinnamon and cloves or things like vanilla and orange peel. Here's a selection of what I'll be enjoying this week.

From left to right they are Noël du Trappeur from Quebec (I actually bought this in Paris a couple of weeks ago), La Noël from Brasserie Storig in Schiltigheim, Papi Klintz from Brasserie Uberach in Uberach, Bière de Noël also from Uberach, Bière de Noël from Perle in Strasbourg and Bière de Noël from Abbaye du Val-Dieu in Belgium (there was a Belgian market in Strasbourg).

I must say that I am really enjoying the Christmas season in Paris this year. I just feel more comfortable with the language and the culture and the food. It is not wintery at all, but the lights, decorations and markets make it feel like Christmas. The beer helps too.

db

Le Sapin de Noël

Our recent trip to Strasbourg inspired us to put up a Christmas tree this year. We didn't put one up last year because our apartment was so small. We have been collecting ornaments from our trips to Christmas markets and we bought some lights at our local department store. Trees in Paris are obviously smaller than we are used to because most of them are going into apartments. I once said in this blog that everything in France is half the size and twice the price. I'm not sure what Christmas trees go for these days in Canada, but I've never spent $90 on a 5 foot tree before. Oh well, it's Christmas.

Lori is the tree decorator in our house and her frustration can sometimes overcome her Christmas spirit. There was a point last night that the lights were not cooperating and I thought we were in trouble. Instead of fighting with them, we decided just to live with it and not worry about how they look. We will probably be the only ones to see the tree anyway. Here is our tiny, and slightly sloppy, tree.

We do have some nice ornaments though. We bought this one last year in Vienna.

And this one in Berlin this year.

When you buy a tree in Paris, it comes with it's own stand. They drill a hole into a log and place the trunk of the tree into it. It works great but you can't really water the tree.

db

Capitale de Noël

We just spent four days in Strasbourg getting into the Christmas spirit. Strasbourg markets itself as the "Capitale de Noël" or "Christmas Capital" and I must say that I agree. We had a great time and I highly recommend it if you love Christmas. It was a little different than we were expecting though. There is a large public square in the centre of the town and we thought that's where the main market would be, but there was only a small Christmas market. Instead, there are 11 Christmas markets spread throughout the inner-city and the entire core of the city looks like a Christmas village.

Going to Strasbourg is like going back in time. The narrow streets and traditional timber buildings transport you to the 1800's. We just love the way the store owners decorate the outside of their buildings.

This one was a little odd. I'm not sure what Little Red Riding Hood has to do with Christmas and it's a little scary as well.

But the town really looks its best at night. It's hard for me to show the true experience with the camera on my phone, but you get the idea.

Of course a trip to Strasbourg wouldn't be complete without some Alsatian Cuisine and beer.

If you are interested in going, here's a link to their official program - Strasbourg Christmas Capital

db

Berlin

This past week, Lori attended a conference in Berlin and I tagged along. I didn't see much of her until Friday afternoon. Her days were full of meetings and lectures, so I explored the city on my own but I was able to show Lori a few of the highlights on the weekend.

Berlin is a very cool city with a ton of history, but it's very different from other European cities. There is very little left of the original architecture because most of the city was destroyed during the second world war. Adding to it's uniqueness, is the fact that the city was divided into four sections after the war and occupied by the French, British, Americans and Soviets. Then starting in 1961 the city was physically divided into two sections by the Berlin Wall. These events have had a lasting effect on the city.

The first thing I noticed; there is construction everywhere. There are buildings going up and new subway lines going in all over the city, but the bulk of the construction is in the former East Berlin section. Berliners just celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but the rebuilding is still going on.

I made it to most of the popular sights while I was touring around. The Brandenburg Gate,

Checkpoint Charlie is the most famous of the entry points into East Berlin.

There are sections of the wall still on display around the city and this is one of the longer sections.

Embedded in the ground are a double row of cobblestones to mark the former location of the wall. There are places that look like the wall went through buildings, but the buildings were built after the wall came down.

 

Here's a funny shot showing two iconic Berlin landmarks from very different times. The Berlin Cathedral was built in 1539 and behind it is the TV tower, called the Fernehturm, that was built in the 1960's by the socialist government of East Germany.

 We had some great meals while we were there. One of the leftover effects of the American occupation is the prevalence  of really good steak restaurants in the city. I ate at a couple of them. One of the restaurants had a Black Angus steak from Alberta on the menu, but they ran out so I settled for the Omaha T-Bone. It was pretty good, but I was a little taken aback when it came out and was already sliced for me.

 Lori did get out for some sightseeing during the week. She went on an architecture tour of Berlin. They did the tour in an unusual way though. They wound their way through the streets of Berlin in a convoy of Trabants.

These were cars built by an East German manufacturer and were essentially the only cars available to East Germans. They were horrible cars when they were built 30 or 40 years ago, so you can imagine how awful they are now. They are only used as tourist attractions now. This was the car Lori was in.

There are sobering sights to see as well. There are museums and monuments dedicated to the Berlin Wall and to the atrocities of the Second World War. This is the Holocaust Memorial and it consists of 2,711 concrete slabs. There has been some controversy around this memorial but I thought it was powerful.

db