From Dubai, Alekka and I flew to the Frankfurt airport where Andreas soon joined us from Cairo. We picked up our rental car and made a run for the French border.
We got to Mulhouse in time to visit the Christmas market (vin chaud!) followed by a delicious French dinner (is there any other kind?) By the end of breakfast the next morning we were all thoroughly Francofied. Or Francophiled, anyway.
On the road again after breakfast, we arrived in Avignon later than anticipated. We had some trouble connecting with our Airbnb host but when we eventually got in touch we were given a warm welcome.
The cozy apartment inside the medieval city walls was perfect for our little Christmas.
Avignon puts on an enchantingly magical holiday parade that winds through the markets and neighborhoods
The Provence region has a tradition of “santons”, collectible figurines used in miniature creches in churches and homes.
You can buy santons and all kinds of other things in the Christmas markets that stay open until the new year.
We visited a few of the popular tourist sights, like the Pope’s palace
and the famous bridge:
Sur le Pont d’Avignon
On y danse, On y danse
Sur le Pont d’Avignon
On y danse tous en rond
Of course, this being France, much of the week centered around food.
We made this at home.
We were just a few blocks from the big indoor food market Les Halles where we spent a lot of time shopping for ingredients and even more time just gawking.
Alas, the time went by too quickly. Next stop: Strasbourg
