Christmas Markets of Northern France and Belgium, Episode 263

Join Us in France Travel Podcast

Annie Sargent

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2019

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode of the podcast, Annie talks to Amanda Brikerhoff about her visit to Christmas markets of Northern France and Belgium. On previous trips Amanda had also visited Christmas Markets in Germany and Austria, so Amanda compares the experience.

They spend one week split between Northern France and Belgium. They landed in Paris and picked up a car at CDG (make sure you reserve before you arrive or you'll be stunned at the prices!) Then they drove around starting with a short stop in Beauvais, then to Amiens, Arras, St. Valery-sur-Somme, Etaples

She definitely has her favorites and she explains why! Christmas markets are not all created equal, and some things about them are a little off-putting to tell you the truth. Stay tuned, we’ll help you choose the best!

Hotels Recommended in this Episode

Amiens: Une maison en ville (maison d'hôte)

Lille: Grand Hôte Bellevue

Ghent: Ganda Rooms & Suites

Reims: La caserne Chanzy

Discussed in this Episode

A quick stop in Beauvais [04:48]
Staying in Amiens [08:11]
Visiting the Amiens Christmas Market on a Sunday [10:27]
Macarons d'Amiens [11:24]
They don't sell a lot of Christmas ornaments at French Christmas Markets [12:57]
A stop at the Medieval town of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme [14:53]
The WW1 military cemetery at Etaples [15:03]
The festive Christmas Market of Arras [15:51]
Belgian and Flemish architecture in Arras [17:11]
Looking for local handmade items [18:04]
Mulled wine and regional foods [20:44]
Saint Leu district in Amiens [22:18]
Light show at the Amiens Cathedral [22:46]
The Christmas Market at Lille [26:09]
The Lochnagar Mine Memorial [26:36]
The Christmas Market in Bruges Belgium [29:21]
The Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges [30:34]
A night in Ghent [32:33]
The Ghent Alterpiece in Ghent [33:05]
Enjoying Belgian Waffles [35:49]
The Reims Christmas Market [38:58]
The Reims Cathedral and light show [40:46]
What was your favorite Christmas Market of all these towns? [43:48]
Comparing Christmas Markets in Europe [45:31]

#joinusinfrance, #christmasmarkets, #arras, #ghent #beauvais, #amiens, #arras, #lille, #bruges

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is join us in France episode 263.
0:04.0	Bonjou! I'm Annie Sergeant and join us in France is a podcast where you'll hear
0:09.2	pragmatic advice for your next trip to France. On today's episode, as Christmas 2019 is just a few days
0:16.1	away, I talked to Amanda Brinkerhoff about her visit to Christmas markets of Northern France and Belgium.
0:25.0	She definitely has her favorites and she explains why.
0:29.4	Christmas markets are not all created equal and some things about them are a little bit of putting to tell you the truth
0:36.0	so stay tuned will help you choose the best.
0:39.0	If you're interested in this episode I recommend you also check out join us in France.com
0:45.6	then click on the interest menu item and then Christmas in France at the very
0:51.6	bottom show notes with this episode are on join us in France.com
0:56.4	forward slash 263 that's the numbers to 63. The number is two, six three. the Bonjoure, Rheh, and welcome to join us in France.
1:38.0	Bonjour Annie.
1:40.0	How nice to talk to you about your very recent visit to Christmas markets of Northern France and Belgium.
1:48.6	Yes, it was just over a week ago, so very recent. So we're talking in December 2019 for people who are going to be
1:57.5	listening to this a long time from now, which happens with podcasts. So what was the what was the gist of your trip?
2:05.6	Was there a specific purpose to this so you just wanted to go see Christmas markets?
2:11.4	We did want to go see the Christmas markets. We love this time of year in Europe and but we also
2:16.5	love France and we hadn't really explored the northern part of the country so we
2:20.1	wanted to combine the two. Yeah cool cool. And so you had been to France before?
2:25.6	Yes, I've been several times, mainly in Paris, but also a little bit to the south and
2:31.1	western parts of the country. Oh, very good.
2:33.0	So did you speak the language?
	...

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