Colmar: A fairy-tale Christmas town
And source of inspiration for Howl's Moving Castle, Beauty and the Beast, and hopefully some cheesy holiday movies
I was itching to get out of Paris, so we went to Colmar last weekend.
Maybe you’ve heard of Colmar, or nearby Strasbourg, both of which are in the Alsace region. Alsace is geographically close to Germany and, historically and culturally, blends both French and German influences. Alsace is also a popular travel destination at this time of year because of its famed Christmas markets.
The one in Strasbourg is the biggest and most famous, but a friend who lives here recommended instead the markets in Colmar or Kayersberg. Colmar was already on my list of places to travel to, being heralded as one of the most beautiful villages in the world.
Most visitors stay in Strasbourg and make a day trip out of Colmar. I recommend doing what we did: spending at least one night in Colmar so that you can have the charming, curlicued, fairy tale streets to yourself before the first train arrives and after the last one leaves.
Because Colmar is like a Christmas movie come to life! It felt a little bit magical to stroll around in the evenings, with the houses kitted out in lights and teddy bears, chimneys puffing smoke. And even more so in the morning, skipping off to Patissêrie Gilg for kouglof and gingerbread person-shaped brioche, and admiring the houses lining the canal of Petite Venise with no other tourists around. (From the name, I expected Patisserie Gilg to look more like a Mendl’s than a sleek, renovated pastry shop, but everything tasted good.)
I googled how many films and novels were set in Colmar at Christmastime. Disappointing results—are you having better luck than I did? No novels that I could find; I guess someone with adequate writerly knowledge of Colmar would probably not be writing in English, and maybe I haven’t found the right search terms in French. And maybe the lack of a “Christmas in Colmar” Netflix movie can be blamed on filming restrictions… and I see why one would wish to protect this place.
At this time of year, even with Omnicron lurking, it was crowded, especially in the Christmas markets. Masks were required, and there were designated areas for eating and drinking. 6 markets were spread through the center of town, each with at least a few stands for vin chaud / glühwein (mostly the usual red, but occasionally also white mulled wine), bretzels, and tarte flambée / flammekueche.
I’ve seen flammekueche occasionally available and even eaten it at an Irish pub, and here in Paris I’ve always seen it referred to by this German name. But in Alsace, the dish is more commonly known by its French name: tarte flambée. I suppose most other French people see Alsace as having a comparatively more German identity, and so they imagine Alsatians (passed on from history, when Alsace was more German or belonged to Germany) speaking German when they no longer do?
Choucroute may be the most well-known dish of Alsace: sauerkraut fermented in wine (most sauerkraut isn’t) adorned/“garnished” with hunks of meat and potatoes. Technically “choucroute garnie”—“choucroute” translates literally to “sauerkraut” but can also refer to the dish itself in context. Restaurants usually did not have pepper on the table, nor did they seem to use it much in the regional dishes I tried. Potatoes, muenster, and every kind of red meat, however, were amply present.
I’m glad to have gotten to see one other part of France, and such a cuuuute one. Tomorrow on Christmas Eve Day here in Paris, I’ll go on a long walk, see the vitrines, make vin chaud, and frantically wrap presents.
Merry Christmas / Happy holidays!