en france

I spent my day in the Capital of Christmas

     That is the self description Strasbourg has for this holiday season.
     There are 7 markets in this town!  I think I was in six of them, but I may have been in all seven.
     To be honest, things started looking the same.  I don't think it was the warmed wine, but I noticed that some of the booths have the same items.  That's not a bad thing, just an in the rut thing.
     I went into the cathedral in Strasbourg.  It is beautiful!  And huge!  There is a clock that puts on a show.  Every 15 minutes a character goes and hits a little chine.  The hour must be a ringing display,   but I did not wait to see it.
     The clock in the cathedral dates from 1843.  It is an astronomical clock and shows the position of the planets, sun, moon and includes a perpetual calendar.  It also indicates when the eclipses will occur.  Wikipedia says its main attraction is the parade of Christ and the apostles every day at half past midday, which I assume is noon.  The figures are 18 inches tall and occupy the top part of the clock.  That has to be impressive.
     You may remember yesterday I said I was cold.  I saw the apartment owner, named Salva, this morning and mentioned that.  He came in and turned up the heat.  It was much nicer tonight.
     I also found out this building was built in the 1500s...not the 1700s.
     Salva runs.  He has competed in 14 marathons, including Boston (twice), New York (4 times), Paris, Brazil, and other places that I did not catch.  He was out for a run when I ran into him on the street.  If I understood, he is 56 or 58 years old.  Not an ounce of fat on him.
     I scouted the markets for food, ended up having a schnitzel sandwich and a hot wine.  But wandering around got me chilled to the bone, so I found a little off the beaten tea room where I had a delicious hot chocolate and a trio of cookies.
     As I was finishing the cookies, the hostess asked me if I enjoyed them, I said very much, and she pointed to a woman sitting across from me and said, she made them.  I told her Merci and I think I said they were very good in French, but they laughed, so maybe I didn't.  Or it was the crumbs on my chin that gave me a humorous look.
     Anyway....here are some pictures.

on the building I am in

The cathedral in Colmar

sweets of dried fruit

ok, not everything is attractive here

I wish I was a better photographer.  The trees in this picture were thawing in the morning, drops of water were coming down almost like rain.  For the past several days a mist has settled over the area and when the temps drop at night, all the trees and bushes are white....    I think it is what we call a hoar frost.  When they sun hits the trees, it rains on the people at the bus stop.

Strasbourg has a tram system

my schnitzel is on the right....the sausages go into a bun.  You can ask that they be split in half.

Lots of people take pictures of the sweets

I should have eaten healthy!

Santa plays a mean horn

Wooden you like to be this couple?

I had to buy a wine from the Strasbourg Rotary
club!  I told them I was in Rotary in Illinois and a woman asked if I came here for the markets.  I told her no, I came here to buy Rotary wine!  They all laughed.

I get mellow after a couple of mulled wines.....

As you know, there is a terrorism threat in France.  Last year at the Colmar market, if I remember correctly, a terrorist drove his car down a sidewalk in one of the markets.  There are lots of police and army people on patrol....the army guys are usually in groups of six and are more heavily armed than this policeman.  Scary, but comforting,.

Strasbourg cathedral

the clock