St. Nicolas in France

It's Christmas time in Nancy! The streets are decorated and everyone is out shopping all the time. The lights and colors help cheer up the rain and cold, so much so that I worry about after Christmas when they all come down. St. Nicolas is the patron saint of Nancy, and the holiday is today, Dec. 6th. The ancient story is that an evil butcher, le pere fouettard, kidnapped 3 wealthy children and put them in a box, to be cut into pieces and seasoned. St. Nicolas saved them, and forced fouettard to be his partner from then on to repent. So today, I am about to go see a parade where St. Nicolas (dressed in red and handing out candy to good children) sits in a carriage next to Pere Fouettard (dressed in black) and rides around Nancy.

Yesterday, Janie, Jenna, Alex and I went to Kaysersberg, a small village in Alsace famous for its Christmas markets. We could not believe our eyes! We felt like we were in a German North Pole. Everything was decorated in such detail, and every corner and cobblestone alley was selling hot mulled wine, choucroute, gauffres, crepes, bretzen, and any other pastry/german food you could imagine. It really started to feel like Christmas, and I got some good presents!! I have no idea how I'm going to get it all home in 11 days....