"Xmas Markets in the Black Forest"
'with the Legerites'
The Gang
The Brasserie restaurant on the Pride of Burgundy
Hotel Hirsch, Bad Petershal-Griesbach
Old Custom’s House, Strasbourg (now a restarant)
The historic old town lies across this bridge over the river III on the Grande Île; the river eventually joins the Rhine
Old Town
Gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, built 1187-1439, has a 16th-century astronomical clock inside although we didn't see it unfortunately - (I should do my research before going on holiday)
Lunch in the Old Town
Typical decorations of buildings in the Old Town
Xmas market in Strasbourg
Xmas market in the lee of the cathedral
Schluchsee station next to the highest reservoir in Germany which is also the largest lake in the Black Forest, albeit man-made
The next train is going to....
Waiting for a train
Schluchsee station waiting room
The toilets!!!
Our friend and driver Tony
The market at Titisee
Anyone got the time? Not one of these clocks tells the correct, or same, time.
Lake Titisee
The beautiful lake Titisee, largest natural lake in the Black Forest
Is it Christmas?
Münster Cathedral, Freiburg, 13th century minster took 300 years to complete
Münsterplatz, totally flattened by bombs in 1944 apart from the cathedral which survived with minor damage
Freiburg market
A great shot of a robin taken by Nick on the Xmas tree
Glühwein is a tradition at the Christmas Markets
The Old Town in Colmar
Wet in Colmar
The Temple Neuf church in Metz, Lorraine
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz
Impressive entrance to the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz
That's what you call a church organ, being played whilst we were there
Pont de la Préfecture across the Moselle
Magnificaent stained glass windows in the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz
The cathedral is nicknamed the Good Lord's Lantern displaying the largest expanse of stained glass in the world
Rack stands for candles are known as votives or vigil lights, and are customary as a mark of respect for an event or a person and originate from Old Testament times where an oil lamp was lit to ‘sustain a perpetual flame'
Mein host, Angel. Nick and Olwen celebrating their wedding anniversary
In many ways this is one of my favourite days with the excitement of meeting up with our very good friends Nick and Olwen, Marion and Ed, Gaynor and Jean as well as our favourite Leger drivers (and friends) John and Tony. We met everyone on the coach at Stop 24 and made up for lost time on the drive to the overnight stop at Reims. Following a very nice meal (with wine) on the crossing to France in the Brasserie restaurant, we settled down for the drive to Reims where we stayed overnight in the Novotel, a modern hotel with a very long walk to our room, an uncomfortable bed but good shower.
The following day we travelled to the Black Forest area of Germany via Strasbourg for our first market taster. Personally I go for the social side of the holiday and hopefully some good sights; good or bad the markets hold very little appeal for me. I think Strasbourg was OK, even though the weather didn't favour us; the Black Forest in summer or the midst of winter and the hills covered with snow would be a fabulous sight but a grey, rainy day in November is not so good. Nevertheless we enjoyed a rather nice hot-dog at the market and a couple of beers in a cafe, nothing grand but who cares.
The hotel Hirsch at Bad Petershal-Griesbach (try saying that after a few beers) was a very pleasant surprise. This was a typical Bavarian style building with lots of wood everywhere and traditional German food. The owner (Angel) made us very welcome and joined in with our after meal celebrations; we were very lucky to have a very large 'suite' with underfloor heating, lounge area, bedroom and separate toilet and bathroom. John's comment it was a bit dated but I think he was jealous because our room was bigger than his (Ha Ha).
Nick had thoughtfully mixed a few litres of 'Planters Punch' which we put to good use on the first evening, meeting up in our room to celebrate Nick and Olwen's wedding aniversary.
The lake at Schluchsee is approximately 3,000 feet above sea level and is a man-made reservoir but has little to see other than a great view across the lake and a station where the trains run from Titisee to Seebrugg (Schluchsee is the penultimate stop). On a better day (weather wise) this would have been a great viewpoint but unfortunately the weather was not kind to us. Fortunately the availability of the toilets came as a relief to many after quite a long drive from our hotel.
We descended to Titisee a few hundred feet lower which has the largest natural lake in the Black Forest area, where we exercised our legs and spent a bit of money in the souvenir shops. On the drive up to the lakes there were the first signs of the winter snow on the mountains and I'm sure this is quite spectacular in the midst of winter.
After dinner we had a great evening in the bar with our 'host' Angel and whilst some of us gave in relatively early (11.30pm) others carried on (with Angel) until the early hours, yes a truly excellent social evening.
Unfortunately for the latter group we had to get up early the next day to make the long drive to Colmar for what turned out to be the best Xmas market. Colmar is in the Alsace region of NE France and has at various times in its history been part of both France and Germany. According to my research it is one of the driest cities in France but we were not so lucky with umbrellas the order of the day. However, I saw enough to convince me this is an area worth visiting again in the summer as we really only saw the center of the old town and the markets.
On our final day we set off for Metz, the capital of Lorraine, on the way back to our stopover in the Reims Novotel but this market was the most disappointing, more of a flea market than an Xmas market, with people buying their food and other home necessities; the indoor market reminded me of the indoor food halls at Covent Garden with lots of cheeses, meats, sausages and delicacies on sale. The Cathédrale Saint Étienne de Metz is, however, outstanding with the largest expanse of stained glass windows in the world.
We spent our last evening in Reims at a local Chinese restaurant, over the road from the hotel but unfortunately this was not very good and a bit overpriced.
We returned to Calais and home in good spirits as even though some aspects of the holiday were not perfect, we had a great time with our friends and will be meeting up again at the end of December when we all go on the Leger New Years Eve Rhine Cruise, a tradition we have maintained for the last 4-5 years - BRING IT ON!