Merry-go-round carousels are often an image that arises in one’s mind when thinking of childhood, at least in the West. Most of us who were raised in western countries can recall times in our childhood when we rode on top of a carriage, horse, or unicorn on a happy merry-go-round with fun, festive lights, colors, and music. As someone who is well into her 30s and quickly approaching her 40s, I hadn’t actively thought about carousels until we took Kaia on her first one in Central Park during a play date with her bestie from her last school and his parents back in the spring of this year. Then, she was absolutely terrified and screaming her entire first ride with me, which was miserable to say the least. But she’s changed quite a bit in the last 6-7 months. Now, she sees carousels, immediately gets excited, and demands to get on them ASAP. She got to experience four rides on the main Strasbourg Christmas market carousel; four rides that she never, ever wanted to end, likely because the ride was like magic to her. Currently, she doesn’t seem that into the horses or unicorns, but she rather sit in the vehicles when on offer, particularly the fire trucks and airplanes predictably. She LOVES fire trucks and airplanes in real life, so that came as no surprise to us.

Strasbourg during Christmas time is truly a magical place, likely one of the most fairy tale-esque Christmas market experiences we’ve ever had. And the carousel rides and its brilliant lights and decor added to the festive and fairy tale feel. Here we are, as “those parents” who are excited to get just the right pictures and videos of our happy and giggling child on her magical fairy tale merry-go-round rides. Watching her on the carousel rides all those times and trying to capture the moment made me feel really happy, too. It was almost like I was reliving my own childhood through her, but in a much happier and fulfilled way. I have mixed feelings about my own childhood. Of course, I have lots of happy and heart-warming experiences I remember. But I also remember lots of things that I frankly should never have experienced or had to deal with. And so because of that, I feel even more joy observing my own child in her happy moments because it’s like a reminder to me to not repeat all the intergenerational trauma that I’ve inherited.

Some other fun tidbits from the last day: Kaia took a very long nap during one of our Strasbourg days. When she woke up, it was already early evening, and the sun had gone down, so it was quite dark. She immediately saw a food stand at a market with pretzels and asked if she could have one. This was much to Chris’s chagrin, as he absolutely detests pretzels of any and all kinds and begrudgingly agreed that we’d get her one. As long as I have known Chris, he has gone on mini rants about how plain and boring pretzels are, that they’re a total waste of space in the food world and are the epitome of blandness. While all of that may be true, when your child wants one and is famished… well, you kind of… should probably give in and just get her fed.

One of the boulangeries I had originally bookmarked for our Strasbourg trip, Au Pain de Mon Grand-Pere, has three locations in Strasbourg and is quite popular for their baguettes, pain au chocolat, and eclairs. While I’m generally not a “chain” person while I travel, I do make exceptions for specific types of food. And well in France, by default the food quality is so much higher than in the U.S. because of greater emphasis on food and quality of ingredients, so we popped in today to pick up a couple things. Originally, I was in line just for a pain au chocolat (which was delicious and very satisfying), but what I decided to pick up on a whim was a fat madeleine cookie that was beckoning to me under the glass. I threw that in at last minute while I was being rung up at the cash register. My pain au chocolat and madeleine didn’t even cost 2 euros, which was the first thing that stunned me. The second thing that stunned me, though, was exactly how delicious this madeleine was. It had a slight crunch on the outside, was soft and cake-like on the inside, and what really stood out was how buttery this whole thing was. The butter just sang in my mouth when I chewed. This could have been the best madeleine of my life.

If you did not grow up in France, you may have first heard of the madeleine cookie (really, it’s a cake disguised as a cookie in terms of size/shape) from Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time novel. The madeleine in the story serves as an object that triggers memories of the past. The main character eats a madeleine dipped in a tea and is then immediately transported back to his childhood. This is known as the “Proust Phenomenon.” I have always loved the idea of madeleines, but honestly, when I’ve had most, they’ve just been passable. This one I’ve eaten in Strasbourg will remain emblazoned in my mind as the very best madeleine i’ve ever eaten… at the nice ripe age of 38.