Christmas Markets

We headed to Ghent for the Christmas market one day.  We went later in the day so we could see the lights and enjoy the city.

Hot chocolate and a movie

We had a Christmas party at Sylvie's daycare.  It was her last day with the group as she starts in the Nursery Class with Archie in January.  We did a neighborhood walk with lanterns and candles.  Then there was a nice meal.  It was a sad goodbye to the ladies who took care of Archie since our arrival and Sylvie for the last year.

We had a party at Archie's school as well and Santa made an appearance.  We had a little chat with him and then had a quick photo.  It is Archie's first photo with him.  We even wrote a letter and put it in the mail this year too.

We went for a long weekend to Strasbourg, France for the best Christmas market we have seen yet.  Archie called our hotel the "Bourg House."  We arrive on a Friday night and took a stroll through the markets.

Entrance to the old city

Gingerbread products, a specialty of the region

We had to have some gluiwein or mulled wine.  It was nice to sip and walk with it.

Many of the buildings were decorate with things as well as with lights.

A little blurry but you get the idea

The first of many crepes we ate that weekend

Looking down the street to the cathedral

The next morning the kids took their scooters and we headed to the city.

This is the large Christmas tree with a beautiful house and decoration display that lights up at night.

smelling the tree

More mulled wine

Many of the French families had their kids drinking the mulled wine (little kids) in the evening.  I bet they slept well!

Some of the pretty items in the stalls for sale

miniature French houses for sale

Enjoying some more crepes

This was a little neighborhood butcher shop.  They had pig decorations above the shop.

It was super busy Saturday night.  So we called it a day.

One more day out before our drive home

We stayed just across the canal from the city center.   It was just a 10 minute walk to the center.  And there was a beautiful new development that we walked through.

I am making some of these decorations in felt as I thought I could easily make my own.

We tried two times with no success to get the kids to ride a carousel.  They were too scared.

Our last set of crepes for the day

This a photo I found on the web.  Better than I could take so I wanted you to see what we actually saw when we were there.

Not my photo:  Houses under the big Christmas tree

Not my photo:  Market stalls in front of the Cathedral

Not my photo:  Street lights to the cathedral

Not my photo:  big Christmas tree

Not my photo:  Entrance to the old town