Les Vacances so far

As we prepare to leave Strasbourg in the morning, I thought I'd check in and say how wonderful it has been. Strasbourg is truly lovely and the apartment we're staying in is absolutely delightful. I would post pictures except it is in fact someone's home and that seems a bit too much into their privacy. We had tea with the owners and I have to say they are people I'd love to know better.

Strasbourg is situated on the Rhine, across the river from Germany, in the Alsace region. It's a great location to explore Alsace and the Lorraine. My parents and I had the chance to day trip to Nancy, Colmar, Kehl (Germany, the city across the river) and Basel (Switzerland). Strasbourg itself is host to several Christmas market and many, many, many tourists during the holiday season.

Apparently I got only one picture of these markets and the market is wayyy in the background. Here it is:

My favorite part of the Strasbourg leg (even with all the fantasticness of Strasbourg) has been being in an apartment with my parents and an oven.

We made candy cane cookies:

soup:

a tarte aux pommes:

and a fantastic Christmas chicken (not pictured, though the soup was made with its leftovers).

As someone who really likes cooking, it's been a joy. And it's been a joy to be with my parents and to share with them some of what I've seen and some of what little I know. It's been even more of a joy to discover new things with them, like Nancy, Colmar and Basel. All three of us speak some French and a little German so our forays into Deutsch-speaking zones have been funny misadventures. Sometimes those forays were just to the restaurant downstairs as Strasbourg still has quite a lot of German influence (and visitors).

Being in Strasbourg has made me think some more about the future. I'm still working out what I want to do, so stay tuned. :)

In the meantime, here is a picture from each of the places we visited.

Nancy: Croq n Jazz. If you go to Nancy, go there. It is apparently at 4 Rue Lafayette.

Colmar

Basel/Bâle, Switzerland: Outside the Art Museum

Kehl, Germany

Big bisous and huge hugs,

MCJ