Xmas market Turckheim

Today, we decided to check out a couple of Xmas markets in little villages along the route des vins.  I find the villages more colorful and more visually interesting than the bigger towns and you can feel the spirit of the entire village poured into the decorations.

So we headed to Eguisheim first; it's one of the villages that won the 'most beautiful village in France' award a few years back and its concentric layout inside fortifications, with quaint and narrow cobblestone streets and colorful houses certainly deserves the honor. I've added a pic of one of the streets in extras.

Then we went to Turckheim -- another historic village and home to my cousin and his wife (my best friend back from my school days here).  Their house dates back to the 1500's and must remain (outwardly at last) in the style of those days.  Turckheim hosts a bigger than life Advent calendar (featured as the main) and each nite, the town cryer (who still does his job every nite of the year) leads little light carriers (see extra) through the central place in a procession towards the Advent calendar to open one of its windows each nite leading to Xmas. It's a really sweet activity that draws quite a crowd :) We spent the remainder of the evening around a nice meal, catching up with each other's lives.

A good day :)