Christmas Season in Rambouillet
Today was the day that we really got our Christmas vacation going! With the kids out of school for two weeks starting this weekend, we have a few days in Rambouillet before we head to Luxembourg, and we want to really enjoy whatever we can here before we hit the road. For me, I had been thinking about the Rambolitrain museum that I walk past after I drop the kids off at school during the week. In addition to that, some friends of ours invited us to visit some of the events going on downtown this afternoon.
Rambolitrain is a small museum that only costs a few euros to visit for an hour. Really, an hour is plenty, as there are only a few rooms. One floor has glass cases full of very old model train pieces of all kinds. The top floor has a big model train set with multiple tracks, and multiple trains running. I had never been before, but it turned out to be the perfect place to take my three-year-old son Daniel. He could see all of the trains, show me stuff that interested him, and spend lots of time watching the trains go back and forth, in and out of tunnels, and all around the room. Overall, it was a great experience for us, and one of the rare times that I have been able to go out and do something alone with Daniel.
After that, Daniel and I met up with Alex and Miriam, as well as our friends, and their three children. We met at the gigantic Christmas tree (actually composed of many trees) at the center of Rambouillet. In previous years, a small ice skating area has been placed there, but because of the COVID pandemic, that hasn’t been set up this year. There was a group there singing carols. From there, we went to a small alley where the kids got their faces painted.
The main attraction that we found was a small band playing Christmas songs in that very alley. There were trumpets and clarinets, a young and charismatic conductor, and a group of girls singing. It made for a nice little show, and many people gathered around to listen. The last song that the group did was a Claude François song, “Alexandrie Alexandra”, which I had never heard before.
Of course, Daniel fell asleep in his mother’s arms, and we walked home together as soon as the mini-concert ended. Our outing on the town was short, but it was perfect for a family with young kids. And again, because of the pandemic, there aren’t quite as many things for kids programmed this year, so we are just happy to have done something in Rambouillet before we travel for Christmas.