As one of France's greatest treasures, the Gothic Strasbourg Notre Dame Cathedral is unique for its single steeple - making it the world's tallest building in the world from 1747-1874. At 466 ft, it is still the 6th tallest church in the world. Climbing up to its platform was our first activity of the day.
Originally envisioned to have two spires, the planned south tower of Strasbourg's Notre Dame Cathedral was never built
On our way up, Jeremy told Kate that if she makes it to the top without crying he will buy her a Webkinz - humoring us to guess if he was referring to 5 yr old Kate or Today Kate.
The views from the spiral staircase on the way up (and down) are better than from the top
Up close, the wet, bright green copper roof was stunning against the reddish-brown sandstone
I was a bit disappointed that you don't get to climb all the way up 466 feet to the top of the spire; the climb ends after 216 feet / 330 steps to the platform.
Standing atop what was once the highest building in Christianity
A picture of the haphazard rooftops of Strasbourg would made for a fun jigsaw puzzle
We left the cathedral just as several large tour groups from a Viking river cruise were getting in line.
Catching the local train for a day trip to Colmar the Sunday before Christmas sucks. All the seats were full with people and luggage. We bought the group-rate ticket but couldn't find seats together - not even in the same train cars - which didn't go over well with the conductor. Jeremy showed him a picture of the ticket. When it wouldn't scan, Mr. Conductor said he needed the paper ticket - "that is the rule" - and then moved on to the next passenger.
Arriving in Colmar, I completely jinxed our day. I told Chris it was a good thing it was no longer raining or I'd be over it - instantly damning us.
Although the forecast was 42 degrees and cloudy, and the skies were blue, the rain immediately started up again.
It rained and poured for the next two hours. And regardless, Colmar's Christmas markets were packed with families making the most of their Sunday before Christmas.
Colmar's instagrammable spot is in front of Maison au Pelerin on busy Grand Rue
Colmar's brightly-painted steep-roofed half-timbered houses make you feel like you're in a storybook
In the past the colors of the buildings had a significance, painted according to the type of shop
We trudged around all of Colmar's markets in two hours. I had planned for us to be there for another three hours which was entirely too much for the soggy, compact town.
I expected two things for us on our trip to the Christmas markets: 1) rain and 2) crowds. So you could say Colmar met my expectations. For the record, Colmar is beautifully quaint and has the makings for a great market.
"Oh my God, I keep getting pushed. Can we go? This is too much," said Kate, about to earn herself another webkinz.
Colmar is great - except when it is teeming with people and rain.
Jeremy complemented Vivian for having a smile on her face. "Well this kinda helps," she said, referring to the vin chaud warming her mood.
The party started when we got back to our Strasbourg hotel room. It was definitely the happening - dry and uncrowded - place to be!
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