January 27th, 2016
Have you ever seen the Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast? I was a big fan of the soundtrack! “Tale as old as time,
Song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast. Off to the cupboard with you now, Chip. It’s past your bedtime. Goodnight, love.” =)
Some say that Colmar, France inspired the movie version of Belle’s home village. With its colorful houses, lovely canals and cobblestone streets, it is counted amongst one of the best-preserved historical towns in all of eastern Europe. We saw it in the winter and found it charming and quite enchanting. I can only imagine what its like in Spring and Summer when flowers are in bloom!
Colmar hosts five Christmas markets within walking distance of each other during the Christmas season. One of the markets, number five, is dedicated to children. Though Christmas markets are a unique experience, we have found that they can start blending together into a sea of outdoor stalls and endless mugs of Glühwein. To not overdo the experience and burn out our kids, we picked four different markets to attend over the month of December, wrapping it all up with Colmar. It was the icing on the cake.
Colmar is only about two and half hours from our home in Germany making it an easy car ride. When we drove into France on December 22nd, Europe was freshly grieving the tragedy of the attack at the Berlin Christmas Market a few days earlier that had left twelve dead and fifty-six others injured. The suspect, who was believed to have driven a stolen truck into the stalls, was still at large. There was a somber feeling crossing over the French border and being stared at by heavily armed guards. We had our passports ready but were not asked to show them.
Once we got to Colmar, I quickly took note of the various cement blockades and parked, security vehicles that were intended to secure the entrances into the pedestrian zones. There was also a noticeable presence of police walking amongst the crowds. It was both comforting and somewhat eerie. I figured out exit strategies in my mind, stayed more alert to the happenings around me, gave the boys the “stick-together” talk and then decided to enjoy the opportunity we had to be in France. We try to not live in fear but be smart…as my Dad often encourages me to do. So, off we went on foot to experience Colmar.
The boys loved riding the “horses” at the Children’s Market and getting blasted by snow (soap bubbles).
They also enjoyed riding the ship that covered kids in a shower of bubbles. I love the excitement captured in these moments…
As dusk turned into night, we went in search of dinner options. Christmas lights filled the trees and dangled between buildings. What a festive feeling!
After enjoying a couple of more rides, we called it a night and headed to our hotel room that had four single beds calling our names.
The following morning, we ate breakfast and headed out on foot once again to do some more exploring.
We walked through the Eglise des Dominicains. This Dominican church contains beautiful stain glass windows dating back to the fourteenth century. In 1807, the church was converted to a granary and the windows were gradually taken down. Some were stored for safe keeping in another Colmar church while others were carried away by an Austrian commanding officer during the Allied Occupation of France. The windows were recovered, restored and repositioned in the church between 1920-1927. It amazes me that these windows made it back “home” after all of this! They depict various themes including the twelve apostles, scenes from the life of Christ and stories from the New and Old Testaments.
