L'Alsace Fete Noel à la Gare de l'Est

If you love Alsacien food the Marche de Noel a la Gare de L'Est is a must do in Paris during the holiday season.

Hop on the 47 bus and you're there.

All the trains go off to points east like Nancy and Strasbourg so this part of Paris has names like Hotel Lorraine, boulevard de Strasbourg.

*One warning. Unlike most Christmas markets in Paris (usually loaded with holiday snack foods like spiced wine, crepes, hot chestnuts) you will find none of that here. Fortunately the 47 bus drops you just in front of traiteur Schmid, one of the best Alsacien epiceries in town. I went in and browsed.

Perfect kugelhopfs. Every kind of sausage, choucroute, you name it.

They have the very traditional 'Le Mannele Alsacien' made during the holidays of milk bread and served to French children since the 13th century with bowls of hot chocolate.

Naturally I bought nothing at delicious Schmid, saving myself for the Noel Market. Ha!

Forewarned is forearmed. DRESS WARMLY! No heating inside the tent of authentic Alsacien purveyors. Of course Saturday was the day I decided to not wear so many layers. Ha again.

Pain d'epice in great heaping loaves. My favorite French cookie is the Alsacien Etoiles a la Cannelle. Cinnamon is a rarity in French cuisine but not in Alsace. These are loaded with it and almond flour but not gluten free.

Massive hunks of smoked country bacon. Very tempting since I grew up on daily BLTs as a kid.

I fell hard for the sets of Choucroute Garni. I just need a dash of Riesling wine to throw in. The perfect warming winter dinner.

Once you start it's hard to stop. I got some of these potato roesti. Gone, gone gone.

I'm a big fan of Alsacian 'Pizza' / Flammkuchen also called tarte Flambee. Thin, brittle, fromage blanc with lardon and onions.

There may have been no snack food but there was plenty of excellent wine to taste freely. All the wines Alsace is noted for: Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinots, eau de vies.

Adorable wine carriers create an Alsacien village.

If you've ever visited Alsace you'll know many of those villages are toy towns.

There's a folksy, cutsey look to the life in Alsace.

The graphic artist, Hansi (1873-1951) captured the iconic folksy Alsatian style to perfection.It's not just for the kiddies. This drape was on a very fine purveyor of foie gras. His logo bore a Hansi little kid. Hansi was active politically during the wars against the Germans and still revered.

I visited the Hansi museum in Riquewihr a while back and loved it. Altogether this is a wonderful Christmas market. But get some hearty snacks at Schmid before visiting.

You could bring a snack from home. Do you know the easy hack for Mandarins/Clemintines? A simple slice on both ends and one cut in the middle = a lovely 'caterpillar' effect with no messy peels.
You can still give yourself or another Paris Sketch letters in time to arrive before the Holidays by the way :)