Capitale de Noël

I usually don't have time for Christmas.  In years past, Christmas has sneaked up on me as I prepared for concerts, plays, or finals.  A few days before, I'd panic and get caught up in un tourbillon (a whirlwind) of errand-running, and suddenly, the holiday would already be over.

This year, Christmas started before Thanksgiving and just didn't stop.  My job in schools as assistante d'anglais was to be the face of "Christmas in America":  I taught nearly the same Christmas lesson just under fifty times in the two weeks before break (I've listened to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Sleigh Ride" enough times for the next forty years); watched a random home Youtube video of the St. Paul Rice Park tree lighting as many times; and observed hundreds of students' jaws drop as I told them we normally don't eat seafood or foie gras for Christmas in the States.  In France, they don't do stockings and they don't really sing Christmas carols.  Most students knew "Jingle Bell Rock", "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", and, unfortunately, Mariah Carey.

Somewhere in all of the excitement, Elyse and I were finally summoned to Nantes for a medical exam to complete our immigration into France.  I am officially TB-free and good to leave and enter France as I please thanks to a shiny new sticker in my passport.

The Thursday before break, after my last classes, I had a fun time out for a full-blown French-style Christmas dinner at a restaurant with many of the teachers from the collège.  They were all wonderfully sweet, making sure I had someone to spend the holidays with, and asking every day for updates on how many seats were open on flights to Paris for my parents.  Our dinner lasted at least three hours, complete with every course.  Three hours of sleep later, I was aboard a train heading to continue the festivities at the Capitale de Noël - Strasbourg.

In front of the cathédrale

Place Klebèr's giant sapin at sunset

France in general doesn't give Christmas the oomph that the United States does.  I learned this year that many American holiday traditions come from Germany, which is known for its incredible Christmas markets and decorations.  Strasbourg, being just across the river from Kehl, Germany, has probably the second-best Christmas market in Europe (after Prague)...and by "Christmas market", I mean that an army of Père Noël, elves, gingerbread men, angels, and everything else Christmas arrived to completely overtake the entire city.

I was ecstatic to revisit Strasbourg anyway - glimpsing the unique and brightly-colored houses of Alsace; the dark, looming Black Forest of Germany; and Strasbourg's gem of a cathedral from the train felt like coming to see a long-lost friend.  Being there without CELTAlag was at first completely bizarre - I traveled on the tram without worrying about a lesson or failed paper, and actually had time to see the city.  My new memories of exploring the lights, decorations, and stands of the Christmas market while munching on une tarte flambée Münster were just as impressionnant (spectacular).  During Christmas, every city square has a themed market (Alsatian, Belgian, German, kids', book markets, etc.) and the streets in between each are lit with incredible light displays.  The fronts of stores, restaurants, cafés, and vin/bierstubs are plastered with Noël.  It was a street musician's heaven; I gathered plenty of short videos for my collection:

Saxophonist outside Lacoste

Bassist complete with bright neon green strings...and the biggest Christmas tree you've ever seen

How Christmas threw up on upscale hotels, featuring Santa on trumpet and also Santa on accordion

Smart pianist who snagged a prime photo op location

Synchronized swimming, instrument style

La Petite France, Strasbourg

Put this place on your bucket list:

 

 

 

Nevila et moi at a salon de thé

I did have a little bit of a break from les foules (the crowds) - by the Sunday just before Christmas, the streets were packed wall-to-wall with people.  I spent some time with Nevila and Jasmina, two good friends from the CELTA course; they both moved to France from other EU countries and are now English teachers, so we had a lovely time exchanging and comparing French bureaucracy stories.

For the first time, I also went to hear the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg.  Their concert hall is one of the ugliest places I've ever seen, but apparently for good reason: the acoustics are incredible.  Never, not even at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, have I heard each instrument cut through the air so clearly and purely.  Their orchestra was tiny, but perfectly balanced and perfectly projected thanks to the horrid red walls of their hall.  (They also get bonus points for serving Sati coffee in the lobby.)  At the end, a German children's choir came onstage to sing carols; they melted my heart, and I vowed to someday spend Christmas in Germany.