One of the great things about being in Europe during the last of November until the end of the year are the Christmas Markets. We had really enjoyed the Christmas Markets in Strasbourg when we visited several years earlier. And the Missus just couldn't keep still for the two weeks we were in Paris, so I decided to book two nights in Strasbourg. It's less than a two hour train ride from Gare de l'Est. Because this was a rather last minute decision, I wasn't able to book anything on Grande Île. Instead, we stayed at the Hotel Tandem, which was quite comfortable right next to the train station.
It's quite convenient and just a short walk (or you take the tram) to the Grande Île. That first evening, we just wandered the Christmas Markets, which brought back wonderful memories and ate at the market. I'll do an out-of-sequence post on that when we get closer to Christmas.
The next morning, we had a light breakfast and coffee at the hotel and decided to do a bit of exploring. During our previous visit, we hadn't spent much time in the area known as "Petit France", a neighborhood which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, with lovely cobblestone streets and half timbered houses. You might be thinking "wait, but this is France, right?" Well, Alsace is right on the border of France and Germany and thus, has changed hands many times. The area named Petit France is not named after it's nationality, but as I mentioned in an earlier post:
"the name "Petit France" is not named for its architecture, but because of a 16th century hospital that treated "zum Franzosel" (the French disease), aka syphilis while still a free city in the Holy Roman Empire. Apparently, the citizens of Strasbourg believed the disease was the fault of the French. Basically, the idea was to isolate those with the disease in a structure in this district."
There was one structure we saw on our earlier trip that we didn't visit. On the River Ill stands the Barrage Vauban a dam and bridge.
That passageway on the bridge is the Passage Georges Frankhauser. There's a terrace and crossing above the passage with what looked like a nice view so we decided to cross into Petit France that way.
What I hadn't read was about the passage itself.
Lining the passageway were gates that almost looked like jail cells. And within the "cells" were various sculptures and castings.
And the view from the roof was quite nice.
From here we crossed the Ponts Couverts.
And we were in Petit France…..
Love the charming houses and streets……
And the canals…..
If we hadn't already done it on our previous visit, we would have taken the canal tour.
We wandered thru more Christmas Markets.
Before ending up at Place Gutenberg and familiar territory…..
We grabbed a light lunch at one of the Christmas Markets and headed on back to the room. We took the ever popular Grand'Rue back to the Canal du Faux-Rempart to get back to the hotel.
Along the way, we passed a Boulangerie I had on my "list". The Missus wanted to get something to have with Her afternoon tea, so we stopped in.
Man, the place was super busy, but the line moved quickly and the Missus got Her treats.
She enjoyed these and we decided to head on back for some croissant and coffee before catching our train the next morning.
L'Atelier 116
116 Grand'Rue
67000 Strasbourg, France
We relaxed then once the sun set, headed on out to check out the markets and lights…..
Soon enough, it was time for dinner. The Missus had already had Her fill of Alsatian Christmas Market cuisine and because our trip was made at the last minute, I wasn't able to make reservations at any of the places I as interested in.
So, we decided on……well, Chinese of course! There was a noodle soup shop I had on my "list" and while the Missus was highly suspicious of my choice She went along. The shop was also along Rue du Fossé-des-Tanneurs, on the way back from Place Kléber. The name; Lamian.
The place was pretty busy when we arrived, but there was no wait for a table. There was one of the chefs working the "lamian" action for all to see.
So yes, they made their own hand pulled noodles here. Of course, we had to order that.
We started with a nice cold beer and some Cacahuetes au Vinaigre Pimente (3,5€/$3.75US), basically boiled peanuts with vinegar and chilies.
As for our noodle soup, we got the Soupe de Nouilles au Boeuf Braise – Legerement Pimente (14,9€/$16.35US), basically Beef Noodle Soup, slightly spicy.
No, this wasn't cheap, but the meat, while being a tad more chewy than I prefer was quite beefy, the broth had a nice beefiness, was decently rich, with good five-spice tones, not overly salty, with a mild spice to it.
The noodles, were slippery and stretchy and quite good as well.
The boiled egg was overcooked, the yolk hard and dry.
We got the Canard Laque (5,5€/$6 US) – literally translated to "Peking Duck". This was not quite Beijing Kaoya, but the skin was fairly crisp, the flesh on the dry side, but the flavoring wasn't too bad.
And for the equivalent of six bucks US, this was perfectly fine. The version of "duck sauce" was terrible though.
We also ordered some Jiaozi, the Raviolis au Bouef et Celeri (5,5€/$6 US).
The dumplings were quite large; the wrappers too brittle and chewy. The filling for the jiaozi were very beefy, with nice celeri tones, seasoned quite well, but quite tough. We were surprised that the black vinegar-soy dipping sauce was not half bad. This was our least favorite dish of the meal.
Half the fun was watching all the customers; about one-fourth were Asian, the rest were not. We got a kick watching the woman on the table next to us eat Her noodle dish. She used a fork to twirl the noodles, like you'd do with Italian pasta. She was really enjoying her meal and seemed to relish her Tsingtao! She ordered a second one, but wasn't able to finish. And at the end, she went and made sure to take some photos of the noodle maker.
Adorable! We had fun watching French folks eating Asian food on this trip; whether it was Jiaozi, Ramen, A Sando, Sichuan, hot pot, or yes, Niu Rou Mian, they seemed up for it!
There was quite a line when we left.
After all, what better on a chilly winter evening but some noodle soup, right? Even in Strasbourg.
Lamian Restaurant
20 Rue du Fossé-des-Tanneurs
67000 Strasbourg, France
We headed back to the hotel and had a nice night of sleep. The next day, we awoke our train back to Paris wasn't scheduled to leave until 1044, so we headed back to L'Atelier 116 to get some espresso and a croissant Au Buerre.
The croissant was nothing to write home about; the exterior was decently flaky, but it needed more butter and was too doughy.
As we were enjoying ourselves, an interesting thing happened, the Missus heard someone call Her name! Oh my, it was one of Her coworkers! She was visiting Strasbourg with her parents to check out the Christmas Markets. The woman's parents were so much fun; they had just come from….well, Paris of course! And loved France. We had such a great time talking to them that we had to force ourselves to leave in time to check out and catch our train. Such a fun coincidence; running into the Missus's coworker and her parents, at a random Boulangerie….in Strasbourg!
Life is amazing, huh?
Thanks for stopping by!
Before my ramen "took to flight" I dug in. As with my previous visits, the tamago was perfect, still warm, with a runny yolk. The firm noodles were indeed that, good stretch, slipperiness, and chew.
There was one thing I quickly noticed when my bowl arrived; the portion size seems a bit larger than before. Also, the sauce was a lot "redder" in color and while it had a decent savory-nutty – pungency, was also saltier than I recalled. The beef was not quite as nicely velveted and was on the chewy side, though I've had that happen on previous visits.
The rice was perfect, but the sauce was greasier and milder in poultry flavor than what we'd had earlier and the turkey meat was more chewy/tough as well. 
And even though it seemed pretty busy along the whole 500 meter route, there was a laid back vibe to things. And so, we actually enjoyed this night market more than the 
The woman working was quite a good salesperson. She saw the Missus and I walk up and immediately started conversing with the Missus. And apparently this tactic worked as we got a Hujiao Bing – a pepper bun. 
As you walk within the park, you'll come across amazing trees. An example would be the "three generation tree". Where one tree grew upon another, each serving as a base for the next generation, a symbol for all who some here.
There were very nice wooden paths and bridges making Alishan a very easy visit. Perhaps too easy for the Missus as She was getting kinda bored with the whole place. Whereas I enjoyed the view and the trees. Oh the stories they could tell!
It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, loved the beefiness. I was told this is grass fed beef, so I expected it to be more toothsome. The cauliflower was delicious; at least that's what the Missus said as She quickly poached them all from the plate. The jalapeno mashed potatoes were quite creamy and not really spicy at all.
