Lyon: The Christmas Market that wasn't.

We've been lucky for most of our past European Christmas Market excursions over the years to find that most exceed our expectations...but what about the ones that don't? Well, I hate to end the 2013 European Christmas Market tour on a bit of bummer, but Lyon, you're making me do it. 

Just a few days before Christmas we decided to squeeze in just one more Christmas Market, and as we hadn't returned to Lyon in almost 2 years, it seemed as good a reason as any to make a day trip to the gastronomic capital of France. We researched online that they hold quite a large Christmas Market, and it seemed like a great way to round out the year.

We stopped for a quick "taco" (which was actually more like a rectangular burrito with potatoes inside) at "Starting Coffee," mostly because they had Wi-Fi and we needed to access a map online. The "taco" was surprisingly good, even if it wasn't actually a taco, and the gentleman behind the counter was very nice. We told him we were going to the Christmas Market, and he warned us against it. "It's not very good. People have been very disappointed. There is a better one across town." 

Wah-wahhhh.

We finished our "tacos" and decided to check the market out anyway, as we had made the trek to Lyon for that very reason. But oh was local wisdom ever correct. There was a tent with about 20 vendors, none selling anything Christmas related. Aside from a man selling some nice Jura wood toys (whom we bought a little car from), everything else fell along the lines of street market wares. In addition there was one vin chaud stand selling pretty horrible vin chaud, a few food stands, and a kind of petting area with farm animals and pony rides.

Yep. we drove an hour and half to see farm animals. Because we don't see enough cows, chickens, horses, goat and donkeys everyday.

(Who am I kidding, I can never see enough donkeys.)

The animals were the big attraction, and the three of us just kind of stood there looking at each other. 

So this was the Lyon Christmas Market. A bit of a bust.

Truth be told, the market was apparently spread throughout the city in small clusters like this, however we trekked a large part of that city and came across no other segments of the market. No signs directing you to find it. No lights up to spot from far away. We literally searched high and low (Lyon has many steps), and we found nothing. Even our burrito place was closed. Lyon was against us that day.

We didn't let the non-market scenario get us too down though. Lyon is really fun to walk around, and quite the exercise. We went to a children's book shop and picked up a few last minute Christmas presents for Oswin, and wandered around a used book shop and found a copy of "Frankenstein" in French for a friend back home. It made my heart so happy to see how bustling the children's book shop was. Parents were literally elbowing each other to get to books, grabbing piles of books and carefully reading through them before making purchases. Two days before Christmas and the love of reading was still alive and well in France. 

We walked around different parts of the city then we had two years ago, finding the main shopping area and plenty of festive lights...none of which were attached to a Christmas Market. Papa picked up some of Mama's favorite tea for Santa to put in her stocking, since Santa was pretty busy. Dan is such a good helper.

Oh Lyon, we love you so, but we will not be returning for your Christmas Market next year...wherever the rest of it was hiding. 

A la prochaine friends...

Honey 

Also, keep an eye out for Tuesday's post, as I'll be hosting my first giveaway! Exciting right? And hint hint, it rhymes with "Bakura Sloom." Wink wink!

The Montreux Christmas Market

Shortly after returning home from our road trip to Germany for the Freiburg Christmas Market we found ourselves on the road again, this time en route to Montreux, Switzerland. We were excited to add another new Christmas Market to our current list, as well as to return to one of our favorite Swiss cities. This was our first trip back to Montreux after a few years, and it was just as great as we had remembered.

There's something funny about the ecosystem that is this small Swiss town on Lake Geneva. Despite being surrounded by Alps, it has a somewhat tropical climate. And when I say tropical climate, I mean that tropical plants grow naturally, all year round. Palm trees, on Lake Geneva, while staring at snow capped Alps. You get the picture.

This Christmas Market was very different compared to what we had just left in Freiburg a few days earlier. It was also very different then the other Christmas Market on our Swiss list, Basel. But it was different in a very quintessentially Swiss way. In one word, classy.

Seriously, classy. You won't find many ornaments for sale at the Montreux Christmas Market (I saw about 3 different kinds, with the cheapest being in the 7-9 CHF area for one Christmas ball), but what you will find is a makeshift little "chalet camp" (for lack of a better term), that screams luxury. Log cabins were erected with roaring fires (though as it was pretty warm when we there, only a few were lit), one could choose to drink their cheer and eat their snacks either outside in a festive chalet courtyard, or an "inside" area on the lake, and people congregated en masse. Even the smaller vin chaud stands offered covered areas, decorated in a chalet theme (of course), with heaters. Heck, the port-a-potty was the nicest I've ever seen, and was heated. The Swiss know how to do luxury and comfort, that's for sure.

The style at this market was also different than we've seen at other European markets, with plenty of big fur coats, high high high heels, and leather pants to dot the Christmas Market landscape along the lake. This was reflected in the goods being sold at the market, as there were plenty of leather goods, fur hats, and fancy gloves being sold for the luxury lover on your Christmas list.

We also experienced what was the second most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in my life. (Here was the best.) It really looks like we were in Tahiti, don't you think?

There were artisans at this market as well. This stand featured a glass blower who was making goods on the premises, and he certainly had quite the crowd to perform for. This was as close as I could get to snap a picture.

Something surprising about Montreux's Christmas market? No bratwurst. Yes yes yes I know, it's the French speaking part of Switzerland, but it's a Christmas Market!  What did they have plenty of? Very expensive tartiflette, and churros. Yep, churros. I was unaware that churros were so big in Montreux.

All in all I would definitely return to Montreux's Christmas Market, but more for the people watching and Swiss cheer than a typical European Christmas Market feel. This was no Freiburg, but that's ok. We had a lot of fun, were able to walk the beautiful paths along Lake Geneva under palm trees, and ate some overpriced potatoes and cheese. I also may or may not have procured a set of nesting dolls with Freddie Mercury on it. Winner winner poulet dinner!

Next time I'll remember to pack my leather pants though...

A la prochaine friends...

Honey 

Freiburg Finale

I'm already missing the warm coziness of Christmas. I'm not prepared to end this holiday season quite yet, which I guess is good since I still have a few European Christmas Markets to talk about! 

This is the finale of our three day trip to Freiburg, Germany for the Annual Christmas Market. It's still our favorite of all the Christmas Markets we've been to so far, two years running. (You can read my little tips and reviews of those market in the European Christmas Markets tab, soon to be fully updated for 2014.) If you remember from my last post on Freiburg, we began that Friday at the Freiburg Munstermarkt in search of our Cinderella brat, and then headed back for a last spin at the Christmas market to pick up a few last minute ornaments, presents, plates of food and a cup or two of liquid cheer before heading back home.

By Friday afternoon the market was really packed, which added quite a bit festiveness to the atmosphere, but also made maneuvering a little less seamless. Using a stroller would have been a nightmare, as was evidenced by those using them. In a crowded Christmas market such as Freiburg's babywearing was surely the way to go. Oswin was right in the action and loving the lights, accordion players, and all the people. It was as if she wasn't quite sure what to happily freak out about first.

It turns out the appropriate answer to her question was everything, absolutely everything at once. Talk about sensory overload for a little country girl!

We grabbed some warm beverages and striebele, which is very similar to funnel cake, and took in the crowd. I was sad to be leaving when the weekend was only just beginning, but happy we were able to squeeze in a trip, especially on such short notice.

Our times at the Freiburg Christmas Market will always be some of my fondest memories here in Europe. After almost five years it still blows my mind that we can hop in the car, cross country borders, and within three hours be eating brats and drinking liter beers in Germany. It used to take me longer to drive from my parent's house to Penn State for college! Being able to road trip truly opens so many avenues for travel in Europe, without the airline regulations or luggage restrictions, and I'm so thankful we've been able to take advantage of that.

I really hope that we can return to Freiburg for a third year of their Christmas Market and Friday Munstermarkt, especially now that we know where to find our favorite bratwurst, a decent cup of coffee, and late night spaetzel. Some people don't like to return to the same place twice, but for us it's a lot of fun. You learn the spots to go for this and that, and how to get around. We even stayed in the same apartment as we did the year before, and it felt a lot less foreign to us. It was nice to know what to expect of your living arrangement, especially when traveling with a baby.

I couldn't really end a final Freiburg post without showing the goods, could I now? This picture doesn't do justice to these cute ornaments, but you get the idea. Some wooden pine cones, walnuts and pretzels, some little wooden gnomes in knitted sweaters (I've name the old one Gandalf the Grey and the younger one Bilbo), a few wooden snowmen, and the start of our kitschy 70s looking ornaments collection. And yes, that is a ballerina pig you see: one for us, and one for Oswin's collection.We rounded out our haul by purchasing a bag of gluhwein spices, two large hurricanes for votive candles, a special light for atop the tree that is traditional to Freiburg (it looks atomic, which is great since I don't do stars on top of Christmas trees), and finally, after three trips to Germany, my very first Stein. Ahhh it was a good trip indeed.

We took a few days to recover from that little road trip, but not too long as we were heading to Montreux, Switzerland for their Christmas market. Which surprise surprise will be my next post. Stay tuned!

A la prochaine friends...

Honey