First off, I should mention that Gaius entered the Annual Gif-sur-Yvette Christmas Drawing Contest and won.
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| l'arbre enneigé (the snowy tree) |
The theme of the contest was mountains and snow. On the morning of the 17th, before school, I said, "Oh! Today is the last day to enter the drawing contest. Quick! Gaius, draw something!" Half an hour later, his dad dropped off the drawing and the entry form. Then, 5 days later, we got a call that Gaius had won! Here he is with his prize, a polar bear he has named...POLEY.
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Gaius and Poley. Check out the rock star jacket.
My cousin Nicole is visiting with us for the holidays. On Christmas Eve, she celebrated the Feast of Seven Fishes with us. |
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| #1 oysters on the half shell |
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| #2 anchovies in caesar salad |
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| #3 salmon terrine |
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| #4 lox & caviar on blini with creme fraiche (actually a 2 fish dish) |
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| #5 shrimp cocktail |
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| #6 the best smoked salmon from Seattle |
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| #7 goldfish |
After dinner, we had a blindfold taste test to see if these bozos could tell the difference between brie and camembert. They all got it wrong! Of course I (never having been tested) can definitely tell the difference between the two.
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| brie vs. camembert taste test |
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| camembert, mouse, brie |
Christmas morning was very nice. We started the day with our tradition of Irish Coffee, followed by presents! Santa brought Gaius the repulsor blaster he asked for. And Christopher was happy with the gift that I got him. An end table for his cup of coffee/glass of wine!
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| This gift cost €1,87 (about 2 bucks) and weighs about 100 pounds. |
We spent Christmas Day at the Eiffel Tower, where it was about 28 degrees and very windy!
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| I got my 100 eiffel tower key chains for the tree! |
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| Christmas dinner in a Parisian café |
Luckily, we ate dinner in Paris. Because we returned home that night to a refrigerator that had been left open for over 6 hours! Luckily, we didn't lose much.
The following day (Boxing Day) we headed out to Gilles' house (where that cool party was). We had a wonderful lunch with the family and then all walked to the neighborhood rink and went ice skating!
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| the secret to looking good in a hat is the right attitude (my mom) |
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| NICOLE! |
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| lunch with the family |
Their house just keeps getting more and more cool. Look at what we found on the kitchen floor...SWEDEN!
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| Now I want a map of Sweden on my floor! (Click for bigger picture) |
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| skating with Simon |
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| in 3 seconds, Gilles will hurl a huge snowball at that glass building |
One last thing for my foodie friends. We had our own little raclette party. I am totally buying one of these machines when I get home. It's kind of like teppanyaki meets fondue. I borrowed this machine from my next door neighbor.
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Raclette anyone?
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| Nicole works the grill |
It's been a great 2010. Here's looking forward to more adventures for us all in 2011!
à bientôt!
4 comments:
everything looks fantastic! A big congrats to Gaius (and his inspirational parents ;) ) and all the best for the New Year to you!! (We will start celebrating here by watching the New Year come in in Germany - will toast to you guys then as well <3)
-gwen bodhi ali lowell
Happy New Year Gwen!
What fun! Congratulations Gaius! Wonderful drawing! Happy New Year!
GAB
HB!: Perfect attitude, HB. The hat has the privilege of keeping your head warm.
Christopher: I can just picture you using your new concrete table -- drinking coffee and on the computer @ 4 am.
Gaius: Poley looks so cuddly. Did you have fun drawing the Christmas picture?
Nicole: Lucky you to be there at Christmas!
Another great blog, Heather. Merci beaucoup. Je vous aime.
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