We celebrated Mark’s birthday last weekend with a day trip to Strasbourg, which sits very close to the German border. We took a TGV that departed Paris around 8:30 Saturday morning and was supposed to arrive in Strasbourg around 11:00. However, we had our very first bad train experience (technical difficulties) which included sitting in the middle of nowhere for a half an hour, hearing an announcement in French (the only part of which I understood was “this is not good news”), returning the direction from whence we came for a short time, unloading part of our train and then loading them onto our part of the train, riding very slowly through the countryside, and finally arriving in Strasbourg at 1:45. We didn’t have any plans for the day (other than our lunch reservations, which we had to cancel) so the delay didn’t really matter, and we considered it just another adventure. I did regret two decisions I had made that morning, however, which were not to bring reading material or snacks. Yeah- I got pretty bored and hungry on the way.
We did get to see snow on the ground on that long journey, though!
It wasn’t falling from the sky- just covered the ground- but it was very pretty.
Strasbourg is said to have the oldest Christmas market in France, and it was spread throughout the entire town. Each had its own decorations and lights, and endless quantities of hot spiced wine, which tasted wonderful on that very cold day.
Yum.
chocolate nativity scene!
Twas a very fun and festive day. We were home and in our jammies by 10:00, feeling as though we had been to another country for the day. Or maybe even to the North Pole.
Happy shopping, mes amis. If I do much more, I fear that Air France will not let me board my flight on the 21st. Maybe I should just buy one of those fancy French trunks and send it all home in style?
Ho Ho Ho!
Mais Oui Paris 
I love it. That is so festive! Great photos, Kate. Xo
We spent 18 hours, most of it night, sitting up straight in a six person train compartment from Frankfurt to Florence when Lufthansa went on strike August 30. I hadn’t planned on learning any German so we were at the mercy of strangers. It was the worst day of our lives, but did not mar our trip to Italy. We understand travel complications. Hope to see you in Texas. Lunch? Henri
How festive and fun. That is the train that Carly and I took to Germany and luckily we did not have any of those same difficulties because I wouldn’t have understood any of what was going on. We did however take a mother/daughter trip to NYC last weekend and because of our knowledge of the metro we where able to navigate the subway a little better. It also was very festive this time of year.
We hope to see you. Give our best to your family!
How fun for you two! We will be there right after Christmas. You?
Ugh! I’m glad your trip improved from there! I would love to see you in Texas, and lunch is always a good idea.
A chocolate nativity? Just can’t see eating Mary, Joseph,the shepherds and least of all baby Jesus!!