Ho, ho, ho

https://www.facebook.com/catherine.nelsonpollard/videos/10158032507355466/

I stumbled across my first Christmas market as a bride in Stuttgart in the early 1960s. A few chalets were in front of Breuniger Deparment Store. At the time I couldn't have afforded even a four ($1US) Deutschmark ornament.

That year our Christmas decorations were my big plastic pink curlers arranged as a Christmas tree on a door. Safety pins hung off the "boughs" to provide sparkle.

 Stuttgart's Weinarchtsmarket in the snow.

Decades later I visited the market, which had expanded to cover much of the middle city area.

Licorice in multi colors at the Frankfort Weinachtsmarket.

I've been to a number of marchés in various cities since then. Frankfort with my cousins will always be a favorite memory as much because of time with my cousins. Then again Strasbourg or Freiburg were great fun.

Montreux's market, in my home country of Switzerland on the lake with the Alps in the background, is always  great and we don't have to travel and stay overnight (s). We don't go every year . One special year was with a friend from New York.

This year Rick hoped the Canadian booth selling poutine would be there. They were but we were full of fondue.Another chalet sold ceramic dishes and they were from South of France. German chalets featured wooden ornaments and advent calendars. No matter where you looked, there was something that intrigued us-

 This chalet had bookmarks as its main product.



Most of the chalets are stocked with handmade items: teapots, cups, jewelry, clothes, wooden decorations. There is very little of the tacky. The idea of Christmas shopping is the ability to find the unusual gift as well as supporting craftsmen and women.

There is the fun of the other decorations such as a giant reindeer on a small wooden island in the lake. He lights up at night. And PàreNoël/Father Christmas/Santa flying above the chalets then singing and playing the guitar was a highlight.


The music, smells of spices, hot wine, roasting chestnuts along with the buzz of the people walking along create the atmosphere that says, "It's Christmas. Ho, ho, ho."