Strasbourg and Colmar

Seb and I went to Strasbourg by TGV 2 weeks again and we spent 4 days there. Strasbourg is famous for its christmas market though there are many christmas markets in France. Seems like the tradition started from Strasbourg.

The journey took us 2h20min and as we bought the tickets in advance, we travelled by first class. At the price we paid which was similar to second class, these tickets were not exchangable or refundable.

The Strasbourg train station looked newly renovated with an extension from the old building made up of glass. This fusion of old and new complimented each other really well.

During our 4 days, we went to watch a basketball match between Strasbourg team and Toulon team. On this occasion, we took the tram from the uptown to the stadium. We like cities with tram ways. It makes the city looks more ecological and less polluting.

And we saw a Singapore Shop. Looking inside, it was just an Indian bazzar shop.

There were many Chirstmas markets in Strasbourg, each with different themes. This year, some craftmens from Quebec were invited to participate in the Chirstmas market.

Apart of visiting Christmas markets in Strasbourg, we visited the nearby famous city, Colmar. Colmar was also known as the Venise of France. It was a little city full of charm.

We also visited the different area of Strasbourg, like the Petite France.




As it was a very cold week, we had to look for warmth after short walks in the streets.

We visited the Alsacien Musuem and also the History Musuem of Strasbourg. They gave us insights to the lives of the strasbourgeoises in ancient times. We enjoyed the museums a lot.

Each part of France is so different. Strasbourg is in the region Alsace. Alsace itself has its own costume, food culture and language. As it was really near Germany, there were many people speaking German.
I am glad to have finally visited the eastern part of France. I hope to visit the mountains in France for my next short getaway.

WII

We bought a WII for ourselves. :) As there was a shortage of stock this year in France, I was so happy to get it over the weekend.

At the end of the year, our companies gave us gift vouchers as a token of appreciation. We waited to receive this voucher to use it for the WII. So when we finally could buy our WII, it was already out of stock in Paris. We tried our luck in Chartres and there were a few left.

In England, it was selling for about 320£. Some english even came to France to get it since it was much cheaper at 250€. I have no idea what caused such a big success of WII this year since it existed already in 2006.

Anyway, I had fun playing with the games. Seb said that WII is really for the Asian market and I think he is not wrong. I am always an arcade addict in Singapore. Wish my ka-ki Tim was here. We could have a smashing good time boxing each other.

PS: Ka-ki = buddy in Hokkien

End of the year is coming soon!

We are going on a long weekend to Strasbourg tomorrow. Strasbourg is about 500km from Paris. With the new TGV line opened, it would only take us 2h 20 mins to get there. I have never visited the eastern part of France so this will be a great occasion since Strasbourg is famous for its Christmas market (marché de Noël).

The weather is starting to get really cold this week. At least the weather forecast is pretty positive for the next few days. There will not be rain.

When we return, it would soon be christmas. Each year, we bought a bigger christmas tree than the last. We started with a 50cm christmas tree and I am happy to have a 1.2m christmas tree this year. My company will organise an afternoon party next friday. And on Saturday, we will be heading to Chartres to spend our christmas with the family until 26/12/2007. As one of our directors comes from the region Alsace, we do not have to work on Boxing day as it is a public holiday in the Alsace region.

During this festive season, Jessie is here in France to spend Christmas with her in-laws family. She had kindly bought some food stuff for me from Singapore. I am looking forward to meeting her next Tuesday; not just for the food.

And there is also Sharon whom I have never met who is coming to France for the same reason. We planned to meet on 30/12/2007. It would be great to see the real family after reading so much about them in her blog.

That pretty much wraps up the end of 2007. Gosh. It will soon be 2008.