European Christmas Market 2017

It is going home time.  This trip has been in the planning stage for over the year.  Now, all that is left to do is board our plane in Frankfurt and head for Atlanta.  We left Riquewihr, France and headed for  Frankfurt, Germany.  Our plans are to stay overnight and catch an early flight home on Monday.  While the Christmas market was behind us, we had one more stop to make.  We made a visit to one of the forts that make up the Maginot Line. The Germans treated the French badly during WWI and after the war, the French decided to build a series of forts, obstacles, and weapons installations along the border between these respective countries.  This work was done in the 1930's, and it was thought it would deter German aggression. The French military extolled the Line as a work of genius.  They felt it would slow any invasion force of the Germans long enough for the French to mobilize its army and send the Germans back across the Rhine.  ...

I don't know exactly how to write this days' chronicle of our trip, but here goes.  Zagreb was voted the best Christmas market in Europe for the third time in a row.  If we were in Croatia, I would be writing about Zagreb.  We are not there, we are in France.  So I will write about the Christmas market in Colmar, voted the number two Christmas market in Europe and the number one market in France.  I can't think of a better way to end our Christmas market tour than here, in Colmar. Colmar came in to existence in the 9th century.  It is a well preserved medieval city, the old city basically unchanged through the centuries.  An abundance of half-timbered homes, museums, traditions, wines, gastronomic delights, and churches await the hordes of tourists that visit the Alsace, especially this time of year. The Christmas market is world famous and provides visitors with a safe and friendly environment. There are five markets within the city and the magic of...

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood.  We started the day off with a get-together for breakfast at the office of Jean-Paul and Martine Krebs and Valerie, the office manager.  They host a breakfast every Friday morning for the visitors staying at their vacation rentals.  It was pleasant way to start our day as our journey through the European Christmas nears its conclusion.  We have had a great visit to the Alsace region of France.  It started when we arrived in Riquewihr when we were greeted by Valerie and continued the next day when Jean-Paul took a day out of his busy schedule to take us around the Alsace and visit areas most American tourists do not even know about.  We especially enjoyed meeting Martine, Jean-Paul's wife today.  We were treated as friends and not just tenants. Afterwards our trip through the Christmas Markets continued,  beginning with a visit to Kayersberg, followed by a visit to Ribeauville, and then a visit to the ch...

Today began like all the others in the Alsace.  Get up, have coffee, eat our croissants, and prepare to start our day.  Yesterday we did not get going until after 11:00.  We decided that we would get an early start today.  We did.  We left around 10:30 a.m.  Today's itinerary was Christmas market at Eguisheim, followed by lunch, and then drive to Turckheim and visit the WWII museum about the Colmar Pocket. Human presence was first know to have been in Eguisheim during the Paleolithic age with the first settlement beginning in the 11th century. This village is a favorite of the tourist trade.  They produce Alsace wine of high quality and it is located on the French Wine Trail.  The Christmas market here is outstanding.  If we continue on our present course, I shall have to buy another suitcase to get our gifts back to the U.S.  We all enjoyed this village. We then drove to Turckheim to check out their Christmas market before we went to ...