Markets, Liberation and Lights

Saturday was the two-month anniversary of my arrival in Metz, and it was really quite the day!

We started with an opening-day tour of the Metz Marché de Noël: the Christmas Market.

There is so much to see, smell, and with the samples being handed out left and right, to taste as well! There are spice vendors, candy vendors, stands selling Christmas ornaments,

others selling scarves and hats, others still selling all kinds of knick-knacks, some selling toys, others jewelry... the list goes on!

I was particularly excited by the vast array of dried and candied fruits...

And the wall of pain d'épices - gingerbreads - was quite impressive! There is even one stand selling all kinds of things from Quebec - cured bison meat,

maple syrup in a can (!) [and also wicked cher at 12€!]

and specialty beers (even Maudite, for you, Cindy!).

After our obligatory afternoon snack - a waffle with chocolate for me! - we made our way over to the Place d'Armes, where we had noticed that some American flags were flying along side the French flags in front of the Hotel de Ville (City Hall).

It turned out that this weekend was full of celebrations honoring and thanking the Americans that liberated Metz at the end of WWII. There were lots of American vets from the 95th Infantry, along with their families - wives, children and grandchildren.

Then, several dozen period Jeeps and vehicles of other sorts started rolling into the Place. They were driven by and filled with people (actors?) dressed in period clothes and seeming to have a great time.

Everyone swarmed the cars and started talking to the costumed French, to the bedecked vets and to all their families.
It was really fascinating. We talked with one man who said he was here for this celebration 10 years ago, as well, so it seems this is a regularly occuring event. It was fun to wander through the crowd, looking at the cars and listening to the mixture of American English-French conversations going on.

I kept wondering what Metz must have looked like 65 years ago, when these, young at the time, men poured into the city...

We then took the long way home, playing tourist some more and gawking at the newly lit decorations we've been watching go up since the beginning of the month.