13.1.06

Mostly Christmas Pictures

Christmas Eve: the table before the celebratory meal. To save you the trouble of counting, that's 27 place settings. On the menu (among other things): rivers of fine wines and champagne, dried pork (shaved from pig leg by Olivier), foie gras, turkey, raw salmon (not smoked), truffle salad, real caviar, nine types of cheese, bread, rum cake with jam layers, coffee, and fine chocolates.
Jean-Jacques telling Father Christmas that he'd been "wise enough" this year. (That's actually his brother-in-law under the suit.) Everybody (and I mean everyone) recieved a present from Santa upon sitting on his lap, declaring that they'd been wise (the equivalent of "good), and giving him a kiss. You can also see four-year-old Maxime right next to them--he's my buddy, grandson of my host parents.
Rue de Rivoli lit up before Christmas. Interesting hanging lights, I thought. They went on for quite a while. You can also see the BHV (a big department store) all decorated.
My favorite accordionist. He plays every night at this corner, at the start of a bridge just next to Notre Dame. You run into quite a few accordionists in Paris--but this one's really good.
Notre Dame with it's Christmas tree (sapin, in French).A different view.
Hotel de Ville and some lights on the Seine.
My friend Molly and I. Molly and I were in the same freshman seminar course at Berry last fall, and met up in Paris this holiday when she was on her way home from a semester in England.

1 comment:

Virginia said...

7 AM. Let's check and see...no, no new updates from Emilee. Noon, lunch break from homeschooling, hmm, wonder if there are any updates from Emilee. 2 PM, school is finally over. Let's go check out Emilee's blog. 4:30 PM home from bagpipe lesson with son. Rats. Nothing new from Em. 6:15 PM. Yipee!!!!! More Emilee pictures! Hooray!!
And you wonder if anyone still looks at your blog??!! This, with the exception of bagpipes being only on Fridays, is a typical day. Thank you for these pictures. I hope you have some of the Grande Opera. Think you can sneak down and catch some of Erik's lake?
I miss you!