Euro Christmas Trip 2010 (part 3)

From Luzern, we drove up to the Alsace region of France and check out the Christmas markets and villages around Colmar. It's the kind of town that looks straight out of a story book with its timber framed buildings. It gives Brugge a run for it's money in the cute old city department. We shopped their Christmas Market, bought some cookies, and had some lunch before driving down the a similar (but smaller) village, Eguisheim.

The next morning we got up early and drove to Baden-Baden Germany to check out their thermal baths. What a great idea that turned out to be. They have a large pool with multiple levels (and multiple temperatures). That pools also connects to a large pool outside. There is a cold pool that I guess is supposed to be refreshing. We hopped in that briefly and then back into a nice hot pool. We spent a little time in an aromatic steam room too.

Feeling newly refreshed we drove to Paris to see the city lit up with Christmas lights and feed Christine's croissant addiction. We stayed at a hotel near the Bastille that had a parking garage. That was an interesting experience. I pulled the car into a narrow little car elevator and went down one level into a small 4-space garage. I've never ridden a car in an elevator before. It's kind of unsettling.

We were feeling a little nostalgic and decided to have dinner at the place where we ate before getting engaged, Reflets des Scene. I'm glad we stumbled on that place 5 years ago. It's a nice small restaurant that will forever be etched as part of our history. We walked in and the owner almost immediately recognized Christine. He gave her some friendly cheek kisses and had us wait at the bar until a table opened up. The food, as always, was great. Maybe the best coq au vin I've ever had.

It's amazing how much time you can take enjoying a nice dinner in France. It was getting late when we left but we still wanted to see the Champs Elysees lit up. I'm glad we did, because it looked pretty cool. We skipped the Eiffel Tower because we were so tired.