The sky is dark for already at least an hour. Hundreds of people if not a thousand are wandering from one stall to the other on the Christmas market. The air is full of excitment. And suddenly everything guets quiet. It is exactly 18.00 o’clock. At 6 in the evening every night in the holy…
Category: Christmas
The Upper Rhine Valley is homeland to Christmas
Meisenthal, craddle of the Christmas bauble
Further north of the Vosges mountains, at the edge of Alsace and Lorraine, there are several villages (St-Louis, Lemberg, Goetzenbruck, Soucht and Meisenthal) which had long specialized in producing glass and crystal ware. The village of Meisenthal is famous for its Centre International d’Art Verrier (CIAV; international center for studio glass). Glass has been produced…
Our favorite Christmas events in Alsace, nearby Germany and Switzerland
The Christmas period in the upper Rhine valley starts every year with the first weekend and Sunday of Advent, more or less one month before Christmas. A lot – a big lot of Christmas events are organized all over the region: Christmas markets, concerts, story telling and nativity scenes. Some of them are daily and…
Happy New Year wishes sent from Riquewihr, Alsace
A very Happy New Year to all of you! We will be back soon with new posts about what to see and what to do in the Upper Rhine valley. In 2010 the Lonely Planet guides voted Alsace first among the top ten regions to be discovered in the world. Alsace is unquestionably spectacularly beautiful….
Strasbourg, “Capital city of Christmas”
Christmas markets in Strasbourg have to do with history, not just fashion or tourist events. Just think that this year, from Nov 29 and until Dec 31, 2013, Strasbourg is welcoming its 443rd edition of its Christmas market! 2013 welcomes the 443rd edition of Strasbourg’s Christmas market! The very first edition of the Christmas market…
Christmas market at the Black Forest Gutach open air museum – Germany
This was our second visit to the Gutach Black Forest Museum in nearby Germany. The first time was some 2 years ago during the Summer. Our visit to the Gutach Black Forest Museum was part of a day trip out of Riquewihr, Alsace to the nearby Black Forest in Germany. The open air museum is…
The true history of the Christmas Tree
Updated with Christmas 2013 info The fir has long been the symbol of Christmas in Christian homes. A well-established tradition in Alsace for over 5 centuries, the Christmas tree would have crossed the blue line of the Vosges mountains to conquer French families only after the 1870s. At the heart of Alsace and the Rhine…
Christmas in the Valley of Villé – Alsace – Dec 7-8, 2013
A wounderful Christmas event out of the beaten track This event is one among the few which are not very well-known by tourists but which are prepared by locals for locals. Every year, thousands of Alsatian families are attending. In the year 2012 it was happening in the village of Lalaye. This year, in 2013,…
Bergheim – A Trail of 50 Nativity scenes (cribs)
A fine rain has replaced the few flakes of snow that had fallen during the day. To go home to La Vancelle the roundabout at the exit of Riquewihr – like a big lottery wheel – decided to send me to the wine road rather than the highway … At 18 o’clock, almost everyone has…
Christmas Trails in Osthouse
Les Sentiers de Noël — Update 2015. OSTHOUSE Christmas Trails — 27/28/29 Nov and 05/06 Dec, 2015. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets: €6,50 – free for children under 12. 17:00 – 21:00 on Friday and 16:00 – 21:00 on Saturday and Sunday. Official website: http://www.lessentiersdenoel.fr The previous event took place in 2012. Hereafter my personal…
5 Christmas markets are awaiting you in Colmar!
The Christmas markets 2018 will start officially in Colmar Nov. 23, 2018 and will welcome you every day until late December, 31. Colmar is located in the very center of Alsace, a mere 10 kilometers away from the Alsace wine hills. Colmar and its surroundings has a sunny microclimate and is the second driest city…
Christmas market magic in Riquewihr
The Christmas market 2014 will start officially in Riquewihr Nov. 29, 2014 and will welcome you until late December, 28. Here is a set of pictures taken on a Sunday evening between 5 pm and 6 pm. At that time, especially on a Sunday evening, a large part of the crowd had already departed and…