B is for Black Forest, Blizzards, Bavaria, and Beer

After saying goodbye to MC&NC in Strasbourg, Drew and I got on the bus to head to our next adventure in the Black Forest in Germany! One of my good friends here in Lyon is from a small town outside of Villingen, and she had invited us to stay at her house for a few days over the break. Drew and I had already been talking about going to Munich for New Year's Eve, so it worked out perfectly that we would stay with her for a few days on the way.

Black Forest
We met Laura in Freiburg, one of the bigger cities in the Black Forest and just across the French-German border from Colmar. Despite some pretty miserable weather, we took a little tour of Freiburg's cute downtown, admiring the lights and taking care not to step in the water troughs that line the streets. A legend goes that if you accidentally step in one of them, then you will marry a Freiburger! (No offense to Freiburgers, of course. I'm sure they are lovely people!)

From there, we drove about an hour to Laura's house, gaining elevation along the way. By the time we arrived, all of the rain had long turned to snow and there were several inches of it on the ground. If we had that much snow in DC everything would have been shut down, but in the Black Forest it was a mere nuisance. Here's a shot of the snow before we left a day or two later!

Settling in, we had a cozy Saturday night eating dinner and chatting. Over a meal of venison, red cabbage, and serviettenknödel (a type of bread dumpling), Laura and her father told us all about the area -- its history, politics, and customs. In particular, they taught us about the Villingen Carnival celebrations (called Fasnacht), which date back to the end of the 14th century but are largely unknown outside of the Black Forest.

Briefly, the celebration, which leads up to Lent, marks the end of winter and the start of spring (although it kicks off at the beginning of January, so maybe it's just wishful thinking!). A story with several characters -- most notably one named Narro -- goes along with the celebration, and during two days of parades, people in the town dress up as the characters in elaborate costumes rich with meaning. The distinctive masks, which allow the participants to walk through the crowds and the parades anonymously, are important because one of the traditions is that the people dressed as Narro tell people without masks what they know about them very frankly. Historically, this was a chance for the non-privileged class to go around and share their thoughts without fear of reprisal. (Laura assured us that it's not mean at all; it's supposed to be funny.)

Two of the characteristic masks. There are only a small handful of people in Villingen who make these masks, and since they only produce a few each year, they are irreplaceable family heirlooms.

The next morning after breakfast, we bundled up in our warmest clothes and went out to do some cross-country skiing! I'd wanted to go cross-country skiing for several years, so I was really excited to finally try it! It took me a little while to get the hang of the motion, but after a couple of hours I was moving around the tracks at a respectable pace. Everyone always says that cross-country skiing is a great full-body workout, and I definitely understand why. It was exhausting! Luckily, I could always use the beautiful scenery as an excuse for a break!

 

Warming up before skiing round #2!

"Schwarzwald" is the German word for Black Forest!

For those of you who don't already know, Drew is a huge ice hockey fan. So, when it came up at some point that Villingen's sister town, Schwennigen (they are actually administered as a single city, Villingen-Schwennigen, but, as Laura and her father stressed, they are very different historically and culturally), has its own ice hockey team, Drew's ears pricked up. On the way home from cross-country skiing, we decided to check the ice hockey schedule in the off-chance that there was a game that night, and it turned out that one was starting about 45 minutes later! We hurried home, showered and changed in record time, and regrouped to head to the game, snagging a prime parking space and making it past the ticket booth just after the scheduled start time. Once in the stands, we congratulated ourselves on our quick turnaround.

After a few minutes I decided to get in line for a beer, with a request from Drew for a dark beer. When I finally made it to the front of the line, I asked for the darker of the two options, a bottled beer called Qowaz that they poured into a cup, and then climbed back into the stands. I handed the cup to Drew, pleased with myself for ordering something on my own in German. That's when Laura shared the bad news that the start of the game had been delayed for 2-3 hours because the opposing team was snarled in a huge traffic jam caused by the closure of a key tunnel nearby. Womp womp. We reluctantly decided it was too long to wait since we had plans with Laura's mom that evening, but as I had already purchased the beer, we decided to stick around long enough to finish it. Unfortunately, it turned out that the "beer" I had ordered was actually a beer and cola mix. It was terrible. Undrinkable, in fact. Thankfully, I got a few euros back when I returned the cup (we found this "deposit" system in Switzerland and France too), and Laura was able to sweet-talk the arena into refunding our tickets for the game!

Our attempted hockey game + German beer combo foiled, we had a fantastic evening nonetheless. Laura's mother met us when we got back home and instructed us to dress VERY warmly because we were going to see a famous waterfall. After about a half hour ride, we parked at the base of Triberg, a pretty little town decked out in lights for the holidays. We strolled up the hill running through the town, admiring windows lined with cuckoo clocks of all shapes and sizes, until we reached a ticket booth beside a particularly festive-looking area. Laura's mother surprised us by buying our tickets for us, and we strolled through the gates into a total winter fairyland! Pathways twinkling with lights and trees heavy with freshly-fallen snow guided our way around the park until we reached Triberg Waterfalls, the highest in Germany.

Laura, her mom, and me in Triberg!

So many twinkly lights!

We made it to the falls just before 8pm, where something exciting clearly was about to begin, given the throng of people waiting expectantly by the site. Laura had mentioned fireworks at 9pm, so I thought maybe she had mistaken the time. But it turned out there were actually two shows. There was in fact a fireworks show later that evening, but first there was a fire show over the falls! Drew took a short video of it towards the end, but you should definitely also watch this longer one (the first 10 minutes) I found on YouTube to get the full effect! It was awesome and so...German. I can't imagine anything like it in the States!

Our feet numb and our faces frozen into perma-grins, we continued past the waterfall to an area filled with food stands and places to buy hot drinks, a stage with live music, and areas to stand and chat. We each picked what we wanted for dinner and then hung out for a bit, warming our hands by the bonfires and enjoying the general atmosphere before the fireworks show began. People living in the Black Forest don't let the cold stop them from having fun!

The next morning, we had another great breakfast -- brunch, really -- of breads, rolls, different spreads, cheese, and some pretty gorgeous lattes before heading into Villingen to take a little tour of the town. Meeting up with Laura's mother again, we went to a cute cafe/restaurant where we ordered black forest cake as, uh, dessert after brunch. Black Forest Cake in the Black Forest....how could we not?! Laura had warned us that the slices of cake at this particular place were always huge, but we weren't prepared for what arrived on the plate!

Breakfast!

The slices of cake were enormous!

After doing our best to finish the cake (a legend in the Black Forest says that if you don't finish your cake, it will rain the next day!), we went for a walk around Villingen. It didn't take long to see everything since the town is fairly small, but it totally came to life as Laura and her mother pointed out their favorite sites and told us lots of stories.

By early afternoon, armed with our luggage and our very own cuckoo clock and a video about the Black Forest (gifts from Laura's mom!) it was already time to say goodbye to the Black Forest and head to Stuttgart. Laura had helped us arrange to rent an apartment in Munich, but since we needed to pick up the keys from her friend in Stuttgart, we stayed there for a night with Laura's brother before continuing to Munich the following morning.

Our very own cuckoo clock!

Dinner at Carls Brauhaus in Stuttgart!

Munich
We arrived in Munich in the afternoon and found the apartment without any trouble. It was too late in the day to do any serious sightseeing, but we walked around the old town for a bit before grabbing dinner at a traditional Bavarian restaurant that Laura's friend had recommended called Wirtshaus zur Brez'n. 

Town Hall

The next morning (New Year's Eve) we started out at a bakery across the street from our apartment. Drew had his first-ever krapfen, which is a German/Austrian jelly doughnut. They hold a special place in my heart because I remember eating them when my family lived in Austria when I was little. While he tried not to get too much powdered sugar on his jacket, I rejoiced in finding a croissant with the same pistachio marzipan filling as is in mozartkugel, a typical chocolate from Salzburg that I love.

Happy with our breakfast decisions, we decided to start the day in the English Garden, a huge park in the middle of the city. It was gorgeous covered in snow! We walked by the big lake in the middle, saw the Chinese Tower and a small Greek temple on top of a hill where lots of families were sledding, and stopped for a few minutes to watch some surfers in the river. Yep, you read that right. Surfers. In below-freezing weather. We couldn't believe it!

English Garden winter wonderland!

Chinese Tower

Monopteros Greek Temple

People surf in the English Garden year-round!

Leaving the English Garden, we walked by the Residenz (the old palace where some of the Bavarian monarchs lived) and in the adjoining Hofgarten (the Residenz gardens), strolled through Viktualienmarkt (an open-air market), and peeked inside Peterskirche and Frauenkirche, the two main cathedrals in the center city. We also stopped for lunch at an Indian restaurant in Altstadt. It was the first time I'd had Indian food since leaving the States and I'd been craving it for weeks. It didn't compare to Haandi in Falls Church, but it totally hit the spot!

In a slight planning fail on our part, it turned out that most things in Munich were closed on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, including Nymphenburg Castle and the Deutsches Museum, which we had really wanted to see. But we made the best of it and enjoyed walking around, taking in the expansive plazas and the festive atmosphere.

By mid-afternoon or so we had seen what we could from the outside, so we decided to start a little beer hall tour to kill some time before midnight. We started at Augustiner Bierhaus, where we plopped ourselves down at a communal table along with some friendly-looking people. We ended up talking with a really nice couple who were both teachers. They told us all about their experiences teaching in different places around the world, including their current posts in Saudi Arabia. After they left, a few older women joined our table (people are constantly rotating in and out at the beer halls), and it turned out that one of them had lived in Alexandria, VA about 40 years prior. Her English was still quite good, so we chatted with her for quite a while before moving on to our next stop.

 

We had spotted Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in Munich, while wandering earlier in the day, so we decided to head back over there. Despite having over 1,300 seats inside, we couldn't find a single place to sit! We did two laps and hung around a bit, hoping two people would leave, but to no avail. Other people had clearly had the same idea to camp out somewhere until midnight!

As only beer halls remained open at that point, all of them were getting very crowded. Luckily, we were able to snag two seats at Schneider Weisse Brauhaus nearby. Over beers and some food, we spent a couple of hours chatting mainly with a very friendly middle-aged couple from Northern Spain and with an older German gentleman who expounded on the virtues of Ireland and assured us that Schneider Weisse was the best bierhaus in Munich. (Of course, the people we talked to at Augustiner Bierhaus said the same thing about that one...everyone has their favorite!) There was also an older German couple at our table who didn't speak much English but were pounding back beers. One of the funniest moments was when, just seconds after ribbing Drew for ordering a glass of water, the husband drunkenly knocked over his glass and spilled beer on himself...twice.

We stayed at the beer hall until it was just about time to see the fireworks. After chatting with people over the course of the day and hearing several opinions about where the best vantage point would be, we decided to stick around Altstadt to see the fireworks. To be honest, I was nervous to stay downtown since we had read that Munich is pretty crazy for New Year's Eve. Unlike in the States -- or in Virginia, at least -- where serious fireworks are generally banned from purchase and the local or State government generally organizes the show, in Munich it seemed that anyone could buy fireworks (BIG ONES) and set them off wherever they want!

With that in mind, we found spot under an overhang where it seemed safe to watch the revelry.

Munich New Year's 2015. This is not my photo - it's from the The Telegraph but I wanted to show you what I meant about fireworks going off everywhere!

Although it was pretty cool to be in Munich for New Year's and it was fun to see the fireworks downtown, I can confidently say that once was enough. (I'm going to go ahead and cross New Year's Eve in Time's Square off the list of things I want to do in my life, too.) The most nerve-wracking part, actually, was getting home safely afterwards because people were still setting off the odd firework without paying much attention to which direction they were facing. We felt like we were in an obstacle course, dodging stray fireworks and debris on our way to the metro and waiting for our bus!

Having gone to sleep close to 3am on New Year's Eve, we slept in on New Year's Day. Not too late, though, because I didn't want to miss our last chance to see the glockenspiel show on the Town Hall building at noon. Drew indulged my need to see as much as possible, and we made it downtown with a little extra time to spare. Since we had a few minutes, we decided to try to find Asam's Church because it was listed as the #1 attraction in Munich on TripAdvisor. It turned out to be a church in a rococo style, which I know is supposed to be over-the-top. But this was way too much -- it was garish! Laughing, we questioned who voted it as the top sight in the city!

Still giggling, we hoofed it back to Marienplatz to see the glockenspiel show. It was cute, but I'm not sure it was worth the boyfriend points Drew earned by waking up to see it.

New Town Hall during the day! The Glockenspiel is in the center under the clock.

Although most places were still closed, the famous Pinakothek was open on New Year's Day, so we walked over there to get our art fix for a few hours. The Pinakothek is actually made up of several museums, so we decided to start with the Pinakothek der Modern (20th century art) and then moved on to the Neue Pinakothek (19th century art). I would have liked to go to the Alte Pinakothek (pre-19th century art), but it was getting late in the afternoon and we really wanted to go to Olympiapark, which was the site of the 1972 summer Olympics, before it got too dark to see anything.

Pinakothek der Modern

We made it to Olympiapark just after the sun had set, but we climbed up the big hill in the center and caught some beautiful glimpses of the city at dusk. There were still plenty of people in the park and lots of kids playing and sledding (using traditional alpine sleds like the one my family brought back from Vienna!), so the atmosphere was very lively and friendly.

By the time we made it back to the apartment, we were ready to eat dinner. We found a little Italian restaurant a few blocks away, and we happily shared some soup, a salad, and a pizza. The funny thing was that in the restaurant, I kept responding in French or German when the waiter asked something in Italian, but then once we got back to Lyon the next day, I kept saying "grazie" instead of "merci." Total language confusion!

Exhausted from the night before, we called it an early night before leaving mid-morning the next day to catch our train back to Lyon. After an epic jaunt through Switzerland, Alsace, and Southern Germany, it was so nice to make it back home. We spent a relaxing weekend in Lyon, running along the Rhone and cooking dinner with fresh produce from the market.

It was tough to say goodbye to Drew again at the train station, but thankfully these four weeks have gone by quickly (if uneventfully), and I get to see him today! I have a week off before my second semester starts, so we are spending the weekend in Edinburgh and then I'll join him for a week in London. Can't wait!

Much love to everyone from France. I'd love to hear what you've been up to!

Jess

An Alsatian Christmas

I left off in my last post just as we were saying goodbye to Switzerland to head to the Alsace region of France, and I'm really excited to tell you about the next chunk of our trip. To start off, though, I have to share a couple stories to share.

First, a quick story about my dad. My father studied in Italy while working on both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, so before I left for my own semester abroad back in 2007, he took me out to dinner to give me some advice. Over steaming plates of savory Indian food, he told me where to find the best gelato in Florence and warned me to be wary of smooth-talking Italian men and of drinking too much limoncello. He also gave me the address for Arte e Artigianato di Capecchi Simonetta, a leather crafts store owned by a family he had befriended during his year in Florence. My father instructed me to go to the store and introduce myself as his daughter. They would, he promised, be thrilled to meet me, predicting that news that "Giacamo's daughter was in Florence" would travel fast. "Yeah, sure," I thought to myself. But I promised him that I would pay the store a visit nonetheless.

Flash forward several weeks later, I took a day trip to Florence from Siena with two friends. We found the little store tucked away on a small street near Santa Croce, and I walked up to the counter. Speaking in my limited, beginner Italian, I managed to explain to the woman working there that I was Giacomo's daughter, as I had promised. Her quizzical looks quickly melted into astonishment. And then, just as my father had described, she started to call her mother and her sister and probably the store next door to let them all know that Giacomo's daughter was in Florence! By the time we left, I had an invitation to Sunday lunch with the Capecchi family a few weeks later, which turned out to be one of the most lovely afternoons I spent in Italy.

That experience, in my mind, speaks volumes about the power of friendships and cross-cultural connections. Even though it had been probably fifteen years since he had last seen them (we visited them when we lived in Austria in the late 1980s), this family remembered my father fondly and warmly welcomed me into their home, treating me like I was an old friend, too. And when my parents went to Italy this past fall, they spent time visiting with the Capecchi family again, continuing a decades-long relationship.

It turns out that Drew's mother has a similar story. About fifteen or twenty years ago, she was waiting at a bus stop in Strasbourg on a cold, winter day. Seeing her standing outside, a man (MC) beckoned her inside the bus shelter to escape the chill, assuring her that she wouldn't miss the bus. Both friendly extroverts, the two ended up chatting until the bus arrived and during the entire three or so hour ride to Frankfurt. Before they parted ways, the man gave her his address and invited her to dinner with his family the next time she found herself in Strasbourg. She took him up on the offer, and over the years she became close friends with him and his wife (NC), frequently staying with them when she traveled to the Council of Europe for work. And when they came to the States several years ago, they stayed with Drew's family in Virginia while they toured DC.

After she retired, they continued to exchange emails and holiday greetings, and when I started thinking seriously about coming to France, Drew's mother put me in touch with MC&NC. They answered my questions and responded to my concerns openly and thoughtfully, and they also extended an open invitation to visit. Through those emails, we learned that, by coincidence, their grandson studies at the same university here as I do and that their granddaughter is studying in Washington, DC. Drew's family has had her over for dinner, continuing the family relationship across generations, like the friendship between my family and the Capecchi's.

Strasbourg!
Sometime in the fall, I got back in touch with MC&NC to find a good time to visit, and they invited Drew and me to spend several days with them over the holidays. That's how we ended up at the Strasbourg train station on December 23rd, where NC picked us up!

When we arrived, we didn't waste any time indulging our tourist spirit. It just so happened that MC&NC's daughter and granddaughter were about to leave for the center of town near the Christmas market when we arrived, and they offered to give us a ride. We happily accepted, quickly dropping off our bags before hopping back in the car with them for the short five-minute ride.

The historic city center had no fewer than ten Christmas markets, and the maze of streets meandering from one market to the next glittered with lights strung from one end to the other. The smell of mulled wine, crepes, and waffles drifted through the air, and the sounds of Christmas music mingled with the din of the crowds of people streaming around us. We were blown away -- no wonder Strasbourg has been crowned the Capital of Christmas!

Drew got a coconut and nutella crepe to bolster his Christmas-marketing strength

 

Hot chocolate and vin chaud to stay warm!

Excuse the lighting, but this gives you an idea. See all the people?!

After wandering for a few hours, we headed back, where we got acquainted with our hosts over dinner. They were just as welcoming and interesting as Drew's mother had described. By the time we head downstairs to our apartment for the evening, I felt like I'd known them for years!

On Wednesday (Christmas Eve), NC dropped us off at La Petite France, one of the oldest districts in the city, and from there we had the rest of the day to explore. The historic center of Strasbourg, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988, was incredibly picturesque. We spent hours wandering in and out of all of the little streets, admiring the half-timbered buildings running alongside the canals. A few hours in, I was seriously questioning my decision to study in Lyon instead of in Strasbourg!

Strasbourg cathedral's 1000th birthday!

Although most of the stores and museums began to close early in anticipation of the holiday, a few restaurants stayed open so we were still able to get a late lunch. We had been on the lookout for a place with flammenkueche, which is a dish typical of the Alsace region (although not exclusively Alsace...it's also spelled flammenkuchen or other ways depending on where you are). We had tried a smoked salmon flammenkueche for brunch at Mintwood Place in DC a while back, but that wasn't anything like the ones we tried in Strasbourg. A cousin of pizza, these flammenkueche(s?) had the lightest, crispiest, airiest crust you can possibly imagine, and they were topped with some sort of delicious cheese and mushrooms and other things I don't remember. Yum...

Flammenkueche, one of the typical dishes in Alsace

At that point, we turned back to relax for a bit (aka listened to the Serial podcast) and to get changed for dinner with MC&NC and their family at the home of one of their daughters. It turned out that we were having Chinese hot pot for dinner, dipping different types of meat into broth in a shared fondue-style pot in the middle of the table. Even in France, I still got Chinese food on Christmas Eve!

When we first started talking to MC&NC about coming for a visit over Christmas, they had suggested going to midnight mass in the Strasbourg cathedral. We initially assumed that they were inviting us to go with them, which confused me a little because I knew that their family was Jewish. However, I figured that since the cathedral is so famous, maybe everyone goes to midnight Christmas mass, Christian or not. So, we were a little surprised when it turned that not only were we the only ones going, but none of them had ever been before. But after they assured us that, as tourists, we couldn't miss it, we decided to stick with our plan to go. (YOLO!)

We arrived at the cathedral a few minutes before they allowed people in and were able to snag two seats when the doors opened. The cathedral is immense, so even though we were sitting near the front, it was still a little tough to see the dais. I really tried hard to pay attention, reminding myself that I was creating a life experience (My first midnight mass! In the Notre-Dame of Strasbourg!), but I may or may not have fallen asleep during the service. If I did, then I blame it on the fact that we had just eaten dinner, complete with a glass or two of wine and that it was, well, after midnight. (There's no way I'm the only one who has fallen asleep during Christmas mass before...'fess up!)

Christmas Day was very leisurely. We started out the morning with a kugelhopf, which is a sort of like a brioche in a fun shape with raisins in it. They are traditionally eaten in Alsace on Christmas Day, and MC&NC had surprised us with one so that we could enjoy it for breakfast. We had woken up missing the smell of the orange cinnamon rolls that Drew's family makes every year on Christmas morning, so this was the perfect substitute.

Before lunch, at MC&NC's suggestion, we went for a walk along the Ill River, which eventually flows into the Rhine, the border between France and Germany. We strolled along the river until we reached the Parc de L'Orangerie and then wound our way back following whichever little pathway caught our eye. The best part was finding a little zoo in the middle of the park! I have to say, for a really small zoo, they had some incredible animals -- particularly the birds. I wish I had taken more photos to show you how gorgeous they were, but all I have is this guy.

About ready for lunch at that point, we turned to head home, stopping along the way outside the Council of Europe building for a quick photo shoot.

After a tasty lunch of omelettes, spaetzle, and apple tart, we went out for a drive with NC in the countryside around Strasbourg. She showed us Obernai, an adorable little town about 45 minutes from Strasbourg, and then drove us through the tiny town a few miles farther down the road where her father had grown up. Before heading home, she also stopped at a nice spot along the Rhine river where we could look across to Germany. We felt pretty lucky to have our own personal tour from a born-and-bred Alsatian!

How gorgeous is that tart?

Obernai!

Could this door be any cuter?

Ancient Obernai synagogue

France on the left, Germany on the right!

We had some more down time between our tour and dinner, so we listened to a little more Serial (has anyone else following the latest developments??) and enjoyed a bottle of locally brewed beer that Drew had purchased at one of the Christmas markets. Having sort of blitzed our way through Switzerland, Strasbourg was super laid-back and relaxed by comparison. I'm usually a must-see-everything kind of traveler, but even I have to admit it was nice to take it easy for a few days while on the road!

Later that evening we headed back upstairs to chat with MC&NC for a while before dinner. It was very cozy. Sitting in a comfortable armchair in the corner of the room, MC gave Drew a little lesson in Alsatian, a regional language similar to German, while his wife told me the stories behind the fabulous artwork in their home. They also explained much of the history of the region, sharing stories from when they lived there during WWII. NC had been a young child at the time, and she recounted how her family had moved all over France over the course of five years to escape deportation.

Alsatian lesson

Selfie!

MC&NC were on a mission to ensure we tasted all of the Alsatian specialties over the course of our stay, and Christmas dinner was no exception: NC had made sauerkraut and a few different types of sausages, a typical dish in Strasbourg. By the time we got to pineapple for dessert, we were stuffed!

Fun fact: notice the bread on the table in the upper right corner. In France, bread is served with most meals and it is always placed on the table, not on your plate!

We had planned to ride bicycles around town for a bit the day after Christmas, but since the weather was gray and drizzly, we ended up having a slow morning instead. We caught up on the news over tea and leftover kugelhopf before finally heading out around 11am. Our main stop for the day was the Strasbourg History Museum, which traces the turbulent history of Strasbourg from its early beginnings all the way through WWII and up to its selection as the seat of the European Union. We also learned about Strasbourg's unique cultural identity, the result of alternating periods of French and German control.

On our way home after the museum, we decided to stop for lunch, knowing that we'd be eating dinner late. Most places were still closed for the holidays, but we found a tiny hole-in-the-wall Tunisian restaurant that happened to be open and was packed with people scooping up spoonfuls of couscous soaked in flavorful, tomato-based sauces. Our dishes were warm and delicious - exactly what we wanted!

Later that night, we got in the car to go to MC&NC's other daughter's house. Now I know I've gone on and on about the food we ate in Strasbourg, but I have to tell you about this meal because oh-my-goodness was it delicious. Although we were eating at her daughter's house, NC had prepared everything: foie gras and smoked salmon as appetizers, morel mushrooms and veal in a cream sauce for the main dish, and a dense, chocolate-y cake for dessert. Food heaven! It was without a doubt one of the best meals I've ever eaten. With wine flowing and a lot of laughter up and down the table, we had a fantastic evening. They really treated us like part of their family, even surprising us with gifts when they did an exchange later that night.

Marzipan present!

The next morning (December 27th), we reluctantly packed up our bags to leave and then went upstairs for a last lunch with MC&NC before they drove us to meet our bus to Freiburg to start the trip to Germany. We didn't want to say goodbye at the bus stop -- Drew and I could have happily stayed much longer!

Strasbourg was a wonderful chance to slow down a bit and connect with some really incredible people. MC&NC are both Alsatian through and through, and their love for the history, culture, and food of the region is evident. We are so lucky to have had such wonderful hosts to share Strasbourg with us, and it was really special to get to know a family with whom Drew's mother has cherished a friendship over many years. I can't thank them enough for the incredibly warm welcome. I definitely hope to see them again before I leave France.

Next up on our trip: Germany!