Poutine and Lobster Rolls

 

I was a new bride in Stuttgart when I stumbled across my first Christmas market (Weihnachtsmarkt). I had gone into the city. Breuniger's parking lot was filled with tiny chalets selling Christmas decorations, hand made gifts, bratwurst and Glugwin. 

 From then on I was hooked. Over the years the markets have gotten bigger and better. One year I traveled to Frankfurt to meet up with my cousins. He was photographing the markets around Europe. I snapped the colored licorice shown above.

In Switzerland the best market tended to be in Montreux, home of the famous jazz festival. It's huge and Father Christmas flies across the sky several times a day. We went almost every other year.

Geneva's Christmas Marchés have always been tiny affairs. Not this year. Ferris wheels and fairy lights were everywhere.

The English Garden had been turned into a magical piece of real estate.

Original fireplaces provided warmth near the benches where people not only ate the traditional raclette and fondue, they could choose from an international variety of booths.

I ordered a lobster roll. The girl joked that it wasn't a Bostonian lobster but a Canadian one. I didn't care. It was delicious. Rick, who lived and worked in Montreal a few years back, headed for the poutine chalet. Add in a few hot roasted chestnuts to nibble and some vin chaud it was a perfect night.