Day 5 – Too much Christmas food

We awoke to a dark, rainy morning and opted to chill in our relatively expansive dwelling. A brief stroll to the boulangerie, passed opening Christmas market stalls, saw us set up for breakfast. Big pots of mulled wine were being brought to the boil, sugary Christmas things warmed to “wafting” temperature and vast quantities of meats and cheeses were being hauled out on display to lure weekend market goers.

We read, drank coffee and dozed until the rain eased in the afternoon beckoning us outside. By that time the crowds were streaming in. I imagine from the air at night, it must look like tendrils of white dissolving out into the dark of the countryside, the chords thickening and brightening as the cars come to a slow crawl before entering the towns flaming heart – alive with the market’s colours and lights.

As well as the pop up timber huts selling food and gifts, the shops are all done up – Christmasy like, too – and nice to wander by. We found a shop that sells gluten free beer – so that’s a relief, there’s a number of nice book shops and crockery places and one of those cool tobacconists that seem to have a bit of every thing; cut throat razors, walking canes, hunting knives, coffee mugs and woolen berets.

I stopped to purchase some mulled wine, a reasonably straight forward linguistic challenge (at least for the first three – then it gets tougher), until the vendor started heading off on a tangent I couldn’t quite understand. He then proceeded to point to a plasticised card, and became a little exasperated to find I was equally skilled literally as linguistically. I pulled out my glasses, “ah, mais bien sûr, des lunettes!” (ah but of course, glasses). He waited patiently, with knowing smile, as I rummaged for my glasses, placed them on my nose and leant over the card. It was in German. All hope of recovery dashed, I threw a handful of coins on the counter, grabbed my steaming brew and left. Turns out he was trying to explain it’s an extra euro for the mug, reclaimable on return.

After five, the crowds thinned out a bit and by seven, as we strolled up the cobbled streets to dinner, it was a comfortable, un-jostled affair, where one could walk side by side, hand-in-hand, and in a straight line!

Every fifteen minutes there’s a laser show at the cathedral. Not just a projection onto a large sandstone canvas, but an intricate retracing of the building’s stunning architecture, in brilliant colours. It would kind of ‘liquefy’ if that makes sense then change to a different colour and style, or turn to flames so the whole cathedral became an intimidating inferno. Not a nod to notre dame as we’d first supposed but a remembrance of the cathedrals own history and fire in 1877 after a fire works celebration – oops. Either way, we lucked in the spectacular show just before making our way down to Mamie M’a Di, where Mr Gouloises, remembered and greeted us at the door, “oui, bon soir, deux persons pour dix neuf heure”

When we arrived it was dead quiet. In about fifteen minutes it was chocka-block. Lovely decor, great staff and fantastic food. Di had veal with Munster and mushrooms et moi, five traditional meats and sauerkraut. They were big meals but the table next to us went to town. They went for the pork knees and some kind of beef Wellington thing – they were carry-you-out-on-a-stretcher huge!

Nice stroll back home through the markets and off to bed.