Mulhouse Has Markets, Material, Meals and....COSTCO!

 

Our next stop on our Tour-de-France-Christmas Market was Mulhouse. We REALLY wanted to come to Costco, but used the excuse that we were coming for Christmas Markets. There are no Costco stores in Germany (not sure why...) but they have two in Paris and then they opened one in Mulhouse just across the border from Germany. We were excited that it is only a few hours drive! Since we were down here already for the Christmas Markets, we figured we would make a stop at Costco too! 

Mulhouse is known for their textiles. The markets and the museums all showed the years and years of history of textiles from the region. It is very gawdy and unique. We had fun exploring it and trying to imagine what we would ever use the material to make. I could also see how some of the old French fashion houses are influenced by these designs. 

This guy wanted a candy covered apple--even the Evil Queen would be jealous of the perfection of this apple. 

We ate beignets. We think we are more fans of New Orleans styled beignets. The are more fluffy and light. These French versions were more thick and bread like. Koala Bear wanted to know why they put powdered sugar on her roll! haha

The Costco parking lot was FULL when we arrived. We were worried that it was going to be a mad house inside. It was the first month it was open, so it was a great place for people to explore. We were glad we already had Costco memberships because the line just to get a membership was LONG! 

This was the LARGEST Costco we have ever seen! IT WAS HUGE!! And while it did have plenty of people inside, it was so big it did not feel like it was too big. We spend a few hours strolling through all the aisles. It reminded us of home a bit. Of course in Costco style we found all kinds of things we wanted but did not need. Luckily, we had to limit what we bought because we needed to make it back in Big Al and there was not a lot of space for new items! 

But don't worry, as soon as we got home Lady Hiva was plotting how and when we were going to get back to Costco again.

These two Muggles talked their mother into going on the Carousel with them. They also did the spinning chair too. So they were spinning on a spinning ride. I love rollercoasters, but that is a straight up NO for me! HAHA. I am glad that Lady Hiva was willing to do it!

We went and walked through the Mulhouse Cathedral. It was beautiful stone but was dark and cold. You could go up and get close to the stain glass windows--which was the only color in the room. 

The stairs in the parking garage were a piano. It was fun watching these two dance up and down the stairs playing songs. 

We ate some of the local food at the booths. We loved the cheese potatoes. So filling and great comfort food. We DID NOT--repead DID NOT like the Raclette. While it looked amazing to see the bread and melted cheese. I took one bite and did not even chew, just spit it out. Nasty. Usually I will at least eat one bite of something before decided it is not for me. But this was repulsive enough it was just a reaction. I am wondering if the sandwich was bad and nobody knew it. Either way, it tasted better than it looked.