Christmas Markets in Alsace

Colmar - the crew ready to do some shopping.

First things first - cheese and potatoes to give energy. One never feels cold after eating this.

Steve taking it all in.

When in France.....

And they are so good.

Kaysersburgs.

Kaysersburg.

Domaine Mittnacht.

Tasting with Mark, Sylvie and Charlotte.

Hunawihr.

Lunch - delicious.

Outside the restaurant. Sylvie's father was born here.

We took a hike from Hunawihr to Ribeauville.

Ribeauville's medieval market.

Great idea - fire burns the log from inside.

Ribeauville.

Ribeauville.

Good news - Ribeauville and Hunawihr are on the Camino!!

Rosacker Grand Crus vineyard.

While in Salamanca, we met Mark and Sylvie Killian. They were staying at the same hotel and we noticed that they were speaking French. Our casual "bonjours" turned into more and more conversation. We learned that Mark and Sylvie live in France, just outside of Basel, Switzerland. They are both wine lovers and, while tasting Spanish wines with them in Salamanca, we discovered that Sylvie’s' family owns and operates Domaine Mittnacht in Hunawihr, a small village next to Ribeauville. Mark and Sylvie invited us to visit them and we said we would.

Alsace is famous for its Christmas markets. So we decided to combine a visit to the Christmas markets in Colmar and Kaysersberg with an Alsatian food and wine experience with our newfound friends. Next-door neighbor Camilla Trentini came with us to round out the fun

The Colmar Christmas market was huge and hugely populated. There were five completely different Christmas markets that lined the streets of Colmar. It was chilly so we warmed-up with gluhwein and the famous Alsatian gratin-styled potatoes. Full, warm and happy we departed for Orbey to meet the proprietors of our lodging for the evening. The bed and breakfast was really a rented room in the home of a lovely French couple, who spoke only French. Between Maria and Steve's french, we got along and had lovely conversations about their families, the region and our experiences in Suisse.

We had dinner that evening in Kayserberg – an impossibly cute Alsatian village. It also had a Christmas market. This small village, sitting in the shadows of an ancient castle, get a top score on the cuteness chart. We had dinner there – more potatoes and cheese accompanied with a nice Riesling.

Having said au revoir to our hosts, we headed to Hubinwihr to meet Mark and Sylvie at Domaine Mittnacht. Sylvie’s cousin Christopher hosted the tasting and gave us a broad sampling of the wines, including a 1998 Grand Crus Rosacker vineyard Riesling. It was amazing and shows that white wines can age well too. We also got to meet Mark and Sylvie’s daughter, Charlotte.

Following the tasting we headed to a small restaurant located in Sylvie’s childhood home. The food was fantastic and we dined as if we were with rock stars. The people were so nice and the traditional Alsatian cuisine was fantastic. After lunch, we hiked through the vineyards to Ribeauville to see the medieval-themed Christmas market (and to walk off a bit of lunch). It was a beautiful hike and gave us a chance to talk (mostly in French) about the life and times of each family.

It was a fantastic weekend. We look forward to a return trip for a special tasting dinner prepared by Christopher and his wife. Until then, we will think of the people and cuisine of Alsace when we raise our glasses of Riesling or Gewürztraminer. 

Our Italian Christmas: Milan

Restaurant in Settimo Vittone.

Anna and Kate enjoying gnocchi.

This pan disappeared within minutes - note the butter - yumm.

Unique interior - decked-out for the holidays.

Maria's soup - we weren't always sure what we were going to get. No english anywhere! It was amazing.

Milan Duomo - so ornate - not surprised it took 600 years to complete.

View from the roof of the Milan Duomo.

Steve and kids on the roof of the Duomo di Milan.

Kate - happy as always.

The girls taking in the sites.

Lola - 100% love.

Our hosts in Pavia - lovely people.

Family photo on the Duomo.

Milan Duomo and Christmas market.

Lots of photos I know - but this place was amazing.

Finally down in the Christmas market for some last minute shopping.

Right after seeing da Vinci's Last Supper.

Castello in Milan.

Inside the home of Juan Carlo and Gabriella - our hosts in Pavia.

Breakfast Pavia style - delicious.

We have made no secret about how much the family loves Italy. So we decided to combine celebrating our favorite holiday of the year with new adventures in one of our favorite places to visit. We started the journey with a visit to Milan.

As is our tradition when traveling to Italy through Aosta in the evenings, we stop in Settimo Vittone for dinner. This visit we ate at Osteria La Sosta. And like previous stops in Settimo Vittone, nobody spoke english. We ordered gnocchi with burro for the kids - and then re-orderd more because it was so good. Steve and Maria were adventurous and ordered from the menu without really knowing what we ordered. We just waited to see what came out. The food was great; it is always a nice feeling to spend time in the village where Maria's family is from.

Milan is bustling during the holidays and affordable hotel accommodations were hard to come by. So we stayed in Pavia, a city rich with Italian history and known for its universities and being the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards. We didn't have time to explore the culture treasures Pavia had to offer, but we experience the kindness of its people and fantastic cuisine. We stayed at an old farm that has been converted into a bed and breakfast by Gabriella and Gian Carlo Carena, retired architects who now run the B&B. Even Lola the golden retriever was as nice as could be. Though most of the discussion was in French, we enjoyed our time at this retreat from the bustling life in Milan. Juan Carol is an accomplished artist as well. They were wonderful people.

Milan has many attractions. We wanted to see da Vinci's masterpiece,"Last Supper". We learned from other friends that reservations well in advance are a must and thanks to Maria's diligence, we secured tickets. It was an awe-inspiring treat to see the real painting that has been the subject of so many pictures in history books. After that we walked the streets of Milan and the Castillo. We then headed to see the Duomo and see if we could do some last-minute Christmas shopping in Milan's famous shopping districts. The Duomo di Milan was amazing. We purchased tickets (using the elevator to avoid 252 steps) to go the roof. The views of Milan were amazing and we were also able to get close to the ornate sculptures that make-up this beautiful building. We can understand why it took nearly 600 years to finish, beginning in 1386 and finishing only relatively recently in 1965.

A Christmas market was set-up in the square around the Duomo. Kate and Steve went shopping together to find last-minute gifts. Anna and Maria did the same. It was fun to see the different foods and gifts at this market in comparison to Colmar. 

We rewarded our hard days work with dinner at AnticaTrattoria Ferarri in Pavia. The food was great. As we relaxed we enjoyed watching the Italians enjoying their evenings and food. The next morning we said good bye to Juan Carlo, Gabriella and Lola and headed south to Casperia.

Burgundy with Mom and Dad

Perhaps the world most famous white wine vineyard.

Puligny-Montrachet.

Getting ready for lunch at Pierre and Jean in Champy. 

Potatoes, creme, butter, more cream and a bottle of red Burgundy - yummm.

Cave of Domaine Rodolphe Demougeot.

Meursault - Classic tiled roof of Burgundy.

Tasting at Domaine Maurice Chapuis - 13th century cave.

Breakfast at Hostellerie Du Vieux Moulin.

The famous vineyard of Romanee Conti - was able to taste a grape, which may be the closest I'll come to tasting wine from this vineyard.

Remeberance Day in France.

Good news for Steve and Maria - Burgundy is on the Camino de Santiago!

Tasting at Domaine Varoilles.

Another village, another memorial to its fallen citizens - may we all never forget.

Steve sometimes refers to Burgundy as the "other Piemonte". And like Alba, the family have several favorite little places in this favorite place.  We find Burgundy a place where the whole family can get away for the weekend to eat, drink, and be merry. It has something for everyone. What is also nice is that it is only 2.5 hours from our house, so an easy drive. Steve heard that Grandpa Bill and Grandma Jean liked Burgundy but didn't get a good chance to visit the vineyards and have a proper wine tasting experience in Burgundy. So off we went for an overnight trip. We packed a bunch in - visiting all the significant villages in both the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits.

In Cote de Beaune we tasted wine in Chassagne Montrachet at a communal tasting room and finished with lunch at Pierre et Jean, a lovely spot with fantastic food in Champy. We all indulged in foie gras and Beef Burgundy accompanied with a bottle of red from St. Aubin. Our next visit was at Domaine Rodolphe Demougeot in Meursault. It was a nice spot where Steve demonstrated more creative use of his French as the tasting was only in French. What is fun about some of the Burgundy tastings is that the bottles are often unlabled - they are marked with white chalk - and are held in old caves of the domain. Many are several hundred years old. The towns in Cote de Beaune are as charming and quaint as their northern neighbors. Mersault was an unexpected surprise with beautiful examples of the famous tiled roofs. On the way to Mersault, we stopped in all the villages of Cote de Beaune and located many of the important Premiere and Grand Crus vineyards - things that used to only be words us on a wine labels and restaurant wine lists - like Le Montrachet and Les Rugiens.

We then we headed north and stopped at Steve's favorite overlook in Pernand Vergelesses before heading to Domain Chapuis in Aloxe-Corton to taste wine with Maurice, a veteran of a one year visit to Waterville, ME in 1972. This was Steve's second visit. Each time has been fun and educational. It is fun to learn about the soils in the different vineyards, the intersting characters that make-up the winemaking community in Burgundy, and history of the area.

With a car full of wine bottles and Grandpa Bill wondering how he would get all this wine home, we headed to Hostellerie Du Vieux Moulin, our favorite hotel in Bouilland, France. Bouilland is a lovely, small town outside Savigny des Beaune. The proprietors are gracious hosts and the hotel has a fantastic restaurant. As usually, the food was fantastic and the 1998 Jean Grivot Les Roncieres was incredible - what a treat.

Following a relaxing breakfast, we said good bye to our friends at the hotel and off to to the villages of the Cote de Nuit. Sunday was November 11 - Rememberance Day. Each village has a memorial dedicated to the fallen fathers and sons of the Great War and World War II. We saw several ceremonies taking place and most of the memorials were decorated with ribbons and wreaths. The scars left on these tightly knit communities have healed but have not been forgotten, which is a good thing. May we never, ever forget.

We took the small vineyard road that lead past the equally famous villages and vineyards of the Cote de Nuit, including a stop at the famous Romanee Conti. We tasted wines at Gevrey Chambertin at Domain Varoilles. The propreitaire was delightful and very patient with Steve's creative French language skills. We headed home filled, literally and figuratively, with the delights of a wonderful part of the world.