The Capital of Christmas

Strasbourg, France fashions itself "The Capital of Christmas," a claim that does not seem too outrageous.  (The North Pole might also lay a claim, but I don't think it gets a lot of tourist traffic.  When I was young, we always figured that that distinction belonged to Santa Claus, Indiana.  And, of course, the Hallmark Channel would argue either an imaginary European kingdom called Wegovia or an imaginary charming New England town called Pine Falls was the real Capital of Christmas.  Bethlehem anyone?  But I digress...)

I wanted to see Strasbourg in its holiday glory.  We chose to visit Sunday through Tuesday, which was the right call given the large weekend crowds.  (I saw on a magazine cover that it attracts 2.8 million tourists--ten times its population!--every Christmas season.)  We trolled many Christmas markets, enjoyed the varied architecture, ate Alsatian cuisine, drank Alsatian beer, and visited the justifiably famous Notre Dame de Strasbourg cathedral (subject of my previous post).

The streets of Strasbourg did not suggest the same level of prosperity that Paris exudes, and it isn't undergoing a massive city-wide rejuvenation in preparation for the Olympics, like Paris is.  It was, though, a lovely place to spend a couple of days and to explore.  

Here are a couple of views of the streets of Strasbourg and the festive spirit.  The middle one is of a protestant church in Petit France.  I love the variety of building materials used on the exterior.  

And here is a pretzel tree that I could not help photographing.

The first night, we went to a hidden-down-an-alley place that specialized in Flammenkuchen, or tartes flambees, the flatbread that is one of Alsace's more famous offerings.  It was busy and cozy and bustling, mostly with locals, as far as I could tell.  There was a large table near the entrance with an extended family group of a dozen, from toddlers up to grandparents, all laughing and having fun.  

I ordered the non-traditional pear, blue cheese, and arugula tarte, which was delicious.  I could imagine going there regularly if we lived in the area.  

The second night we went for spetzele, which also hit the spot.  We ordered one of the local draft beers, Fischer, and were a little dismayed to notice that their logo appears to have a nine-year-old chugging a pint.  Or is that a liter?  (I have had Fischer beer on several occasions before and never noticed that.)

It was interesting to us that a huge part of the center of the city was closed to automobiles.  I'm not sure if that is always true, or just true for the busy Christmas season.  We had no trouble getting around on foot and on the modern, efficient tram (which you can see in the photo below).  We bought a daily pass for a small amount of money and typically did not need to wait for more than 2 or 3 minutes for a tram.  And locals rode bicycles as well.  Let me just pause to emphasize that a city of a quarter million people has a modern, efficient, affordable tram system.  I will leave you with that thought.