Yaaay! It's Christmas!

I didn't get to go home for Christmas this year - but thankfully Flo's family welcomed me to their home for the holidays...
















Well, actually, it was Christmas Eve. And when I came down for dinner, I had no idea it was going to be something this nice - I was just expecting a dinner like any other. It was quite a pleasant surprise for me. We were all pretty excited about the evening as we had foie gras amongst many other goodies.


This guy was a little 'smug' about the whole thing. I don''t think he was feeling the Christmas spirit at all.





After dinner, we all went to the veranda to begin opening our presents - and I swear I saw the strangest thing in the reflection of the door...


































surely, it was because I had too much champagne with dinner...








certainly, I didn't say anything to anybody else because I didn't want them to think I was crazy...
























but it seems that it wasn't my imagination -or- the champagne...

Santa Claus had lost about 200 pounds! :-p

































But certainly, we had a great time with this ol' chap and his most unexpected visit.

Lille at Christmas

Every year, around Christmas time, Lille will have a ferris wheel in its city center. This is quite common in many of the major cities around France. Additionally, many of the streets are decorated with wonderful christmas lights - which I just love. I wish they would keep them up all year round.












I find this street hilariously decorated. I began referring to it as the "commie" street. They should be more careful - with decorations like that... it's like begging for an "american invasion." (not so politically correct - well, I'm sorry - most jokes aren't!)

















Anyhow, Christmas is approaching and my life will soon begin its next chapter as I am now finished with all my classes in my masters program (with the exception of one one-week long class in April). This next chapter will bring me to the South of France as I have been hired for a six-month internship at Amadeus.

End-of-the-Semester Party

The entire class and significant others were invited to dinner by Iéseg for dinner at this restaurant, l'Omnia. As you can see, it has the coolest entrance to any restaurant I've seen in a long time. The above picture is actually the corridor to go into the restaurant.








The interior of the restaurant also had its own interesting flare to it. As we were informed by our place mats,

"L'omnia is a former theater dating back to the XIXth century. As early as 1850, this place was a cabaret, which soon became a brothel where a large number of our ancestors living in Lille, and its surrounding areas, visited at least once... or even more. The history of the place in the recent years is also known to many! In the 1980s, it housed the Omnia, a large theater which quickly specialized in pornographic movies. This porno theater was the biggest and the last to close down in the North region."

















It was a wonderful way to end the semester, but it was also quite sad - as this was the time when most of us were saying our good-bye's to each other. Many of us were leaving for Christmas break - whereas I was leaving in two days to begin my internship in Nice.

















Alas, we shall meet again in April! Looking forward to seeing all of you!

The Going-Away Party

The semester went by much too quickly. As there were three of us that had started in January, Gonzalo was nice enough to throw us a Going-Away Party.
















Complete with Raclette. This is a fondue-type dish that, I believe, originates from Switzerland. The idea is take this cheese and melt it in that little machine you see on the right of the table in the above picture. You take the cheese and pour it over potatoes and eat it with fine deli meats.

















I'm still amazed that we all managed to fit in that apartment - and that the neighbors didn't complain.
















And, of course, Gonzalo gave us a wonderful speech (you might want to turn down the volume on your computer - as the video is a little loud):











Mmmm... Ferrero Rochers....in Dark chocolate, Milk Chocolate, & White Chocolate.

















Many thanks to our most generous host & hostess! I really enjoyed this party and look forward to seeing you both in April 08!

Development Day

Dricus & Shiv's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday to Shiv & Dricus! I think they were turning 25 - mere children. :-)

















So this is the introduction to my MIB class at Ieseg. We spent 35 hours/week for 15 weeks together in a small and overly heated classroom - and somehow we managed to get along famously with each other.

















We represent 12 different countries: Mexico, France, Nigeria, Kenya, Poland, China, India, Brazil, Venezuela, The Netherlands, S. Korea, & the U.S.

















More to come...

2nd Annual Tartiflette Party

I don't know about you, but I think it looks a little smokey in there. I'm sure it's not because the food in the oven was burning. No, of course not. :-)
















This is the second time Flo had everybody over for Tartiflette during a Fall vacation. I'm hoping that this little tradition will continue into the coming years - but as people are finishing school and beginning their careers, it may be difficult to have everybody there. We shall see though, perhaps I shouldn't be so pessimistic.









So, Tartiflette is basically: scalloped potatoes, cream, ham (lardons, specifically), onions, and most importantly - Rablouchon cheese. This is a relatively cheap meal to make here in France, but if we were try to make it in the U.S.... it would probably cost around $30+ just for the cheese (as opposed to 4-5 euro).

Ouessant

The western-most point of "mainland" France - that is to say excluding the many islands that are sitting in the Caribbean or some obscure place in the middle of the ocean. The only way to get to and from this island is by Ferry. I would say the majority of the people that visit the island do so on a bicycle.








Sure it may look fairly flat in this picture, but I'll have you know - being the non-sporty person that I am - that bike riding on this island proved to be quite difficult. Of course, I was suckered into doing this by Flo, who said, and I quote, "There is really only one big hill that you have to go up - and its just after you pick up your bicycle - everything else is easy." I would like to let you all know that this was a LIE.

















So while the day did start out to be really nice with clear skies - after about an hour of being on the island - we were taken over by fog. It was stunning to watch the cloud consume everything.

























The sign is saying "a gauche" which means "to the left" (while pointing to the left) and then "a droite" which means "to the right" (while pointing to the right). I don't really understand the necessity of this sign - maybe its for the sheep?









Speaking of the sheep - and I just realized I should have added a picture of one of these - Ouessant is known for its population of brownish/black sheep. Even further, during a certain time of the year, the sheep are allowed to roam freely around the island. They are all tagged, so at the end of the season - the owners are able to go rally them up.


Here some pictures of what used to be a typical Breton home.


It basically consisted of one room which was divided by furniture. Here you see a hall-way looking thing - this is the view from the front door and what you are looking at are closets. Next to those closets are enclosed beds which are open to the kitchen. This will require much further explanation - which I will have to do in person - but one thing that's interesting to note is that Flo's grandmother actually grew up in a house like this.





























...and of course, given the rocky terrain there are a couple lighthouses on this island. But have a look at that windmill, you'll notice that it's unusually small. I think this is the only windmill left on the island - but there used to be around thirty.










Soon after this picture, you better believe we were napping. It was an exhausting day!