Christmas in France

This was my first time spending Christmas in a foreign country and it has been wonderful celebrating my absolute favorite holiday in France. It seemed like overnight that my little city of Troyes was transformed into a wonderful little Christmas village, complete with garland and lights strung across every street, shopkeeper's windows adorned with Christmas cheer, and even an entire Christmas tree forest in the heart of the city!

For the French, food is serious business and Christmas dinner comes as no exception. Typically the French celebrate by having a huge dinner on Christmas Eve. (Full course french dinners can easily last 4+hours...warning they are not for the faint of heart.) Typical dishes can include Oysters, Foie Gras, Turkey, Duck, Coquilles St. Jaques (scallops),and of course for dessert the Buche de Noel which, is a cake made to look like an yule log. Below are the Buche de Noels my family had for Christmas.

While my family was here we were able to do a little traveling. We went up to Reims and toured the Champagne Cave Pommery. Then we went to Strasbourg and saw les marchés de Noël (Christmas markets) Strasbourg has one of the most famous ones due to the Germanic influence. It is this mélange of cultures that makes this region in France truly unique.

The gorgeous Christmas display in Gallery Lafayette in Paris.

My sister Cassie drinking vin chaud (hot spiced wine..one of my favorites) at the Christmas market.
Bonne année à tous!

Happy New Year!!!

Well not much has changed in the past few weeks other than the end of the year and the start of the next. I have been working quiet a bit which is awesome it makes the days of anticipation go by faster.
Gas is rising, giving me even more incentive to toughen up and ride to work. This next week the forecast looks like we are going to get about a foot of snow. I'm excited, but wish the temperature would get in the 30's, or at least have the Nebraska wind settle just a little bit.