European Winter Escapade 2019 - Part Four + - I Lied

I said we were going to go out tonight without our cameras and just take in the ambiance. Well, that was true in so far as our Olympus cameras are concerned.

We actually almost didn't go. Wife, in particular, was having leg issues and felt the need to rest. But in the end, we decided that we needed to get out at least for a little. We get out and it is the clearest it has been since we've been here. All the lights are as bright as can be. And it is mobbed, this being the Saturday before Christmas. We ended up going around a great swath of the inner city, touching on all the major markets.

Also despite our complaints about the amount we had been eating, we got ourselves in the mood to eat a number of things that we hadn't yet tried. There was a soup made by a local chef donated for one of the charitable organizations in town. Then there was a salmon we had seen earlier that was grilled on a wood plank.

Served with lettuce and creme fraiche that nicely offset the salty, spicy flavoring

We had to try some hot white wine that was on Wife's list

Then it was on to crepes - a glorious street food that is better in France than anywhere

The crepe sequence

A fresh-made crepe with butter and sugar
Perfection

I ended up with a few roasted chestnuts. While all this was satisfying, the lack of any red meat or poultry allowed our systems to calm down substantially. 

And then it happened. Wife just saw something that really tickled her photographic mind. Out came the smartphone. Soon I was with her. And yet another small patch of pictures was produced.

And one final Cathedral shot

Tomorrow we are off to Amsterdam to spend Christmas with the #3 Clan

European Winter Escapade 2019 - Part Four - Closing Strasbourg With A Food Review

We had pretty much seen what we had on our list to see in Strasbourg. And we are still a bit tired. I have not been sleeping well. Our hotel is very nice in many respects but in some crucial ones related to sleeping comfort, not so much. So we have both been unable to really bounce back from our long flight and are feeling a bit less enthusiastic then we might be. That being said we still saw everything and had plenty of photo-taking opportunities. I think the lack of sleeping has been affecting my ability to process food. That has been really too bad because I truly love the food of Alsace.

So on our last day, we went out shopping for a number of things that we wanted and during the evening just kind of strolled and took in the ambiance.

Some miscellaneous street scenes

Just in case you don't know what this street is...

We will give you a pictorial reference

As we were making our way we saw this (click here)

It followed us around!

(Click here)

We ended up watching the impromptu band concert for a good 20 minutes

Eating in Strasbourg

Let there be no doubt if you have missed this over the 12 years I've written this blog but I love France and French food. It is a country I could easily live in. It was the first place I traveled to internationally and is still my first love

Wife had a list of five things recommended to eat for visitors to the Christmas Festival

The first night we knocked of two of them

Choucroute Garni

Sauerkraut cooked with a variety of cured and smoked meats

The meats were excellent. I honestly think I prefer the version I do from Julia Child's recipe

Probably need a wider sampling 

And Tarte Flambee

An exceeding thing crust almost like a crepe cooked in an oven so it is crisp with a topping creme fraiche, onions and bacon (there can be many variations)

Our hotel had a great breakfast buffet with superior cured meats, cheese and phenomenal bread

For lunch, we stopped and had two classics

Chicken cooked in Riesling wine with spaetzle 

Duck leg slow-cooked  served with red cabbage and some kind of potato casserole

For dinner, we were in the Lebanese section. No pictures. We were tired. But had a thin bread with meat in it and a stew of chickpeas and kidney beans that were both very good. We also had a kibbe that was blah and a fried potato spiral on a skewer that was not very crisp.

By our second full day, we were already feeling the effects of more meat and rich food than we normally eat in a month. Sadly, now that we have the time and the money to eat what we want, we no longer have the constitution to do it. So we decided to focus on street food. Well, this wasn't any less heavy or rich. We'd tried beignets the day before which were on Wife's list and they had been dreadful, clearly having been standing around for a long time. As we made our way through the markets, I was keeping my eyes open for places where the food looked fresher. At one a lady was topping up a big, big pan of chicken and mushrooms in cream and wine sauce by adding more cream, wine and flavoring. Clearly, this was going to be fresh. In fact, she told us we would have to wait 5 minutes before it was ready. So to hold us over we had a Saussison Rouge - Red Sausage

Chicken & Mushrooms in cream wine sauce on spaetzle 

That night because it was raining we cut the night short and went to the hotel wine bar

No pictures unfortunately

Wife had a small tarte with onions and local Muenster cheese while I had  really fine pate de foie gras

The next morning we really wanted to find a good beignet. I had researched what was considered the top bakery in Strasbourg

There was a long line and as I feared no beignets. We assuaged our frustration with...

Pain Raisin

And Pain Chocolat

Both of which were really excellent

I am posting this actually before our last going out

I will not be taking pictures as I just want to absorb the scene

But there was this place in the Lebanon section that was roasting a whole pig

I am thinking this might be the target for tonight

Oh and yes I did have the Gluhwein (hot mulled wine) which was yummy and will get some more tonight

European Winter Escapade 2019 - Part Three - Getting To The Real Market

One of the things that makes Strasbourg's Holiday Market a bit different from those in other European cities is that there is not just a single market but a dozen markets! They tend to specialize in various things. But somehow, we managed in our first two days to miss the main market. We rectified that today.

Although it was drizzly and rainy all day that did not stop intrepid photographers

Ahh, now we are really talking Christmas Market

I was watching this young woman cutting nougat 

It did not look like an easy task

Veritable Armies of Christmas Figures

And Christmas Lights

And sweets

And crafts

And food

Vive le Fete de Noel!

Celebrated with Pizza

After three hours we went back to the hotel to rest and wait for dark

On the way to the hotel

That evening we headed to a section of the canal going around the center city that was noted for being lit up.

We were not disappointed

Although it was raining, it was not raining so hard that we couldn't take pictures, albeit with some difficulty while balancing our umbrellas

The rain by this time had started to pick up

We were at the far end of the center city

Although hungry we didn't want to deal with our wet things so we went back to the hotel, got changed and everything laid out to dry then had a light meal and drink and the hotel wine bar

SIGNS OF THE WORLD!

Parents with children and Sheep may not enter