On our second morning in Strasbourg we awoke to find the area around the Cathedral completely transformed. Workmen assembling hundreds of identical small shacks overtook the previously open space. Jackhammers rattled, men climbed on ladders. There were lights and decorations strewn everywhere. A quick Google search turned up the fact that these were preparations for the famous Marche de Noel in Strasbourg, the oldest and perhaps largest in all of Europe. At first we mourned the fact that we would be missing this cherished event by less than a week however the next few days revealed, if nothing else, that Marche de Noel, all with identical booths, decorations, etc seem to occur in ALL cathedral courtyards in Europe during the period of Advent so we wont be missing out after all.
They really do it up nice, with decorated booths hawking snacks and trinkets, Ferris wheels, kiddie rides, visits from Per Noel, etc. They even staple white poufy fabric on the roofs of the shacks so that it looks like it is snowing (which it might actually do if it stays this cold. I will take some pics once we start seeing them in full glory. For now, all three of looked like eerily similar construction zones with even the booths indistinguishable from country to country.
Outside of tracking Marche de Noel Preparations throughout Western Europe, its just been whirlwind couple days with stops in Strasbourg, Luxemburg, Brussels, and now Caen to see the WWII stuff. After this, we have one more stop on this road trip, Bordeaux, before heading back to home base. I am feeling more than a little wiped and all of the cities are starting to feel a little the same to me, so I am considering shortening our next road trip and spending the rest of our time here romping in nature as there is a lot of it near Renes house. If the snow comes on time, maybe we can take Lilah sledding, and to the Marche de Noel in Lyon and to Paris on the bullet train. We can save the rest of the road tripping for next time…
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