Here’s a fun fact for you: the concept and tradition of the Christmas tree originated right here, in Alsace! The first written records of Christmas Trees anywhere in the world first appear here in 1521, in a small Alsatian village called Sélestat. If you’d imagined there were snowy spruce trees in the Israeli desert for the actual birth of Jesus… I’ve got bad news for you. 😬
Anyway, Sélestat is about a ~20-minute drive from the places we’ll be visiting today! But this is not a historical expedition; we’re going to visit a few more present-day Christmas Markets!
This is (probably) the oldest Christmas Tree anywhere in the world. The first written records of Christmas Trees anywhere in the world first appear here in Alsace in 1521. Those records actually come from a little town called Sélestat which is just south of Strasbourg, but the first records of Strasbourg’s tree follow soon after. At this time, Strasbourg was already the largest city in the region and record keeping was a bit spotty, so I think it’s fair to generally just award the title of “the Birthplace of the Christmas” tree to Alsace in general.
So, this isn’t just a Christmas Tree; this is THE Christmas Tree!
Today, we’re in the ✨S0uTh 0f FrAnC3✨, which is a destination that carries with it some implied glitz and glam. Indeed, when you picture the “South of France”, chances are that you think of places like Nice, Cannes, or Saint-Tropez. Most of these post-card “French Riviera” destinations are over near the Italian border, in an administrative region called Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. But that ain’t where we’re going today. Instead, we’re going to the even-further-south region of Occitania, which was actually only formed in 2016 when France merged the administrative regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées. But don’t let its administrative “newness” fool you: Occitania has a story that dates back farther than France itself.
And we’re back in France! But rather than continuing our exploration of 21st century France, we’re going to rewind today and visit Medieval France. I’ve never been a fan of Renaissance Faires (actually, I low-key hate them), but this is an undeniably fascinating time in history to learn about. And actually seeing the castles in real life really takes this to the next level! Today we’re visiting two Medieval castles in the South of France: Carcassone and Villerouge-Termenès. Vamos!
As we all know, the streets of Paris are famously beautiful. But what you might not know is that just a few meters below these charming bistros and boulevards lays hidden a labyrinth of dark tunnels containing somewhere in the vicinity of 6 to 7 MILLION skeletons. These are the catacombs of Paris, and today—in the spirit of Halloween—we’re going down there. 🎃
We’ll pick up where left off at the end of the previous article on Hondarribia: on the ferry across the Bay of Txingudi, crossing from the Spanish side of Basque Country, to the French side. Our destination today is a little town called Hendaye. Pretty much the ONLY thing I knew about Hendaye when I arrived here was that is was Basque. I had long been fascinated with Basque Country, but had only ever thought about it through a Spanish context. This, however, is an incomplete picture of the Basque culture, because it actually straddles this international border in the Bay of Biscay. Both sides deserve thorough exploration… and as far as the French side is concerned… this ain’t it. Admittedly, it’s not the deepest incursion into French Basque Country, but it will hopefully provide a feel for the area.
Aix, like nearly everything in this part of the world, has a recorded history that stretches back well before the birth of Christ. Whenever I write these articles, I’ll always take a quick dive into the proverbial pool of history to see if there’s anything notable I should highlight… and in the case if Aix, I mostly came up empty-handed. In fact, the most interesting thing I dug up during my research—aside from the recent unearthing of a Roman amphitheater in a nearby suburb—was an interesting Medieval legend about a Dragon that supposedly sat on a nearby hill atop a pile of bones, both human and animal. This legend is interesting, because—although the presence of a Dragon cannot be confirmed—the pile of bones was known to be very real! It’s been the subject of numerous scientific inquiries to identify all of the original owners. There’s a really interesting article about this called “The Dragon at the bus-stop” that feels like it sets the scene quite well for a children’s fantasy novel.
So, with that in mind, the history of Aix feels relatively uncomplicated in my head. For all the history buffs, the history is there! But, for the rest of us, I don’t think you’re doing this place a huge disservice by just enjoying it for what it is now: a magical little place in the South of France.
Similar to my sentiments about the street art I found in Naples, I think the street art of Paris feels quite unique in the context of the murals I’ve seen overall. Indeed, these pieces of art like there were directly inspired by and connected to the city around them—which is not always the case! In North America—where there are some incredible works of art tucked away down alleyways in cities like Toronto or San Francisco—the artistry can weirdly begin to blend together after a few cities. Perhaps this is a symptom of the cultural homogeneity of the continent at large, or maybe I’m just looking for meaning in a place where this none to be found… but the murals I saw in Paris definitely felt like they belonged here.
Tonight is not a regular season match! No; this is UEFA Champions League (UCL). If you are not familiar, UCL is where to top placing teams from the domestic leagues all around Europe play against each other. So, for example, Arsenal plays in the English Premiere League, while Juventus plays in Italian Serie A. These are two famous clubs that would never play against each other during regular season play. The only place where you see international cross-over is UCL, and that is why it’s one of the coolest things in sports! Only the best teams from each domestic league will qualify, and the exact number of teams that make it into UCL from each domestic league depends on how good that league is. So, for example, in Ligue 1 (France) the top 3 teams qualify for the next season of UCL, where as La Liga (Spain) it’s the top 4 teams. This is because La Liga is more competitive than Ligue 1. How “competitiveness” is measured is subject to some controversy… but that’s the gist of it.
So this is a Champions League match, and PSG are up against the Spanish side Girona, who came out of nowhere to finish 3rd in their 2023/2024 campaign, behind only Barça and Real Madrid. Let’s do this!
During the 2024 Summer Olympics, it just so happened that I was living in Paris. Cool, right? Well, not if you asked any Parisian at the time. I love them, but they can be quite a negative bunch, and this proved especially true when it came to the Olympics. In anticipation of the games, they fled the city like an enemy force was about to invade. As a newly minted resident of Paris, I too took on this negative attitude, seemingly by osmosis. Maybe I just wanted to be included. 😂
THANK GOD I snapped out of that funk and bought some tickets! I attended 3 events at the 2024 Olympics, and it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had.
