Joyeux Fêtes

Seasons Greetings. Joyeux Fêtes. Wishing you and your loved ones a beautiful holiday season.

I landed in Boston last Thursday after almost twenty-four hours of travel, including a 6 hour layover in London Heathrow. Stepping off the plane at Logan, I felt like I had come home again. It felt the same and different at the same time. Maybe it was the jetlag, or living in the country for the past year...but it felt a little bit different.

Tonight I'm sitting at my friends' Julia and Mike's home and listening to Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas album. Even though spring is my favorite season, Christmas is my favorite holiday. While I still enjoy getting presents, my favorite part is definitely spending time with friends and family. What gets you into the holiday spirit? Is it hearing your favorite Christmas carol on the radio? Or twinkling lights on a beautifully decorated tree? The smell of freshly baked cookies? The stories and laughter that ensues when friends and family who haven't seen each other in a while get together? For me it's all of those things. This year Christmas feels extra special because R is here with me, celebrating the season in Boston.

Tonight Christmas Eve R and I are heading to my Mom's and then to my Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner. Tomorrow morning we will have Christmas breakfast in Somerville, hosted by my sister, BIL, and nephews who are counting the minutes until Santa arrives. Then Christmas Day Eve we're all invited to my BIL's aunt and grandmother's house on the South Shore.

Geneva's Escalade

After a hearty breakfast of omelets with wild mushrooms (ones I dried from this fall's harvest), R, J and I dressed warmly for our trip to Geneva. Every year, around this time, Geneva remembers and celebrates the brave Genevoise who fought off a surprise attack in 1602. On that cold December night 408 years ago, the Genevoise banded together to overthrow the troops of the Duke of Savoy (Charles Emmanuel II) and his brother-in-law (Philip III of Spain) who coveted Geneva for themselves.

The city all lit up in lights, near the Pont du Mont Blanc.





On the L'Escalade Wikipedia page, you'll see a pic of "A soldier in the commemorative parade". I think I got a picture with this exact same guy on Sunday (see below - had to crop myself out because my eyes were closed)!

Plush animal mountain

Reading La Tribune this week, we discovered that the Croix-Rouge's Épicerie that we volunteered at is now closed, as of last Thursday. Apparently, the Croix-Rouge determined that there wasn't an urgent need for the Épicerie. The determination was made after a few years of observing that the number of families decreased from 140 to only 45; there were several people who lied about their income; and some others who were frequenting all the food pantries and Catholic charities in town, in addition to the Croix-Rouge. C'est une dommage!
Despite the closing of the épicerie, the Red Cross is still doing good. This weekend is the semi-annual Red Cross Vente de Noël. I thought it would be a small sale, sort of the same size as the Christmas Market in Clarafond. However we were surprised to find how large it was!

Today, we spent a few hours helping unpack hundreds of peluches or plush toys, forming a small mountain of plush bears, bunnies, piggies, even a wild boar, swan and something that looked like a yellow voodoo doll. And then we unpacked, sorted, and stacked small towers of games, puzzles, and electronic toys for kids. I nabbed 2 new Ravensburger puzzles for a bargain! While we unpacked the toys with another volunteer, or bénévole, while a dozen others were folding clothes, books, bags, shoes, etc, etc.

Tomorrow we return to volunteer at the sale. And in the afternoon, R's childhood friend Jacques comes to visit us. I'm looking forward to the sale, and to seeing J tomorrow.

Let it snow!

We arrived home to snow, lots of it! And temps in the minuses, Celsius that is! But still it was très cold. Mais très jolie, non?

Pictures taken on Dec 3 and 4th..starting with this one taken from the kitchen of the landscaping in front of the house and in front of the driveway. Today, the rain has washed away some of it, so I'm glad I took the pictures when the snow was still pristine and soft.


Photo of Le Sorgia, part of the Jura mountain chain in front of our house.


Views from Le Plateau de la Retord, with nordic skiers and snowshoers in the distance. R and I took a while, enjoying the beauty, the crisp blues of the skies overhead, and the powder white snow all around.


A view of the Mont Blanc on a clear day from Le Retord. I live at the foothill of Le Sorgia which is the mountain on the left side. Le Sorgia is 1600m, or 5200 feet high. On the other hand, Le Retord is still high but only 1200m, or close to 4000 ft. I was hoping to see animal tracks in the snow, but alas, I saw nothing but then again, we didn't go too deep in because the snow was so deep. But on the way home from Maastricht, we saw a fox in the median alongside the autoroute. He looked at us, then went back to doing whatever he was doing there. R says that sangliers or wild boars who live in the forests will start coming down to our village soon seeking warmer pastures and food!

From Antwerp to Maastricht

ANTWERP, BELGIUM
We stumbled on a high end chocolate boutique in Antwerp. It was in a very fancy building with detailed walls, ceilings and light fixtures. The modern part of the building was in the back kitchen, where there was a chocolatier piping out the word "SAFE" on chocolate condoms. I wanted to lick this chocolate frog...it smelled dizzingly (what, spellcheck says dizzingly is not a real word??) chocolate-y.


WASPIK & DEN HAAG, NL
The best part of the trip was meeting R's friends and family, especially his 82 year old Aunt who recently suffered a stroke but is still pretty lucid. What's more homey than sipping tea accompanied by chocolates? Or knitting a few rows in the Aunt's sock project? Maybe eating Cousin Joke's warm asparagus soup with ham on a cold evening. Perhaps leafing through a photo album capturing his aunt's 80 years of life which her kids surprised her with two years ago? Births, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries were all captured in black and white and then later in color. Farm scenes transitioned to more modern day settings. I saw R's mother as a baby and on her wedding day to R's father. Then pictures of the 2 sisters on their wedding anniversaries. In the earlier pictures, everyone is dressed in their best clothes. Before the advent of the snapshot and digital cameras, having your picture taken was a big deal, so everyone dressed up in their finery. How different it is today! My two nephews Isaac and Aidan are only 4 and 1 and they probably have 50,000 digital images of them which capture their daily lives. Can you imagine how much they will have in their lifetime?




HAARLEM, NL

Pictures that follow are dinner with R and his two brothers who both live in Haarlem. The older brother is in local politics and is President of his local Free Mason Temple while the younger one just bought a beautiful boat and started his own business, HaarlemCanalTours.com. I think the 3 brothers don't really look alike - what do you think?

If you ever visit Amsterdam, be sure to visit nearby Haarlem. Bring comfortable shoes and be prepared to step back into time. Haarlem has all the modern amenities, but the town market and most of the buildings are historically beautiful. IMHO, Haarlem has the best holiday lights up - classic white lights instead of garish Christmasy themes of every color in the rainbow) .

• The NL celebrates 2 Christmases. On December 5th, Sinterklaas or Sint Nikolaas, a Spanish bishop, arrives by horse on a boat traveling the canals. Zwarte Pieters, or Black Peters travel with him. I was shocked the first time I saw the Black Peters because they are essentially white Dutch in black face and hand makeup! My politically correct self was wondering if anyone else thought that way. But the Dutch don't! They are black from the soot in chimneys which they climb down to deliver good little boys and girls their presents. During this time of the year, you'll see many black faced Dutch kids running around the streets dressed like the Zwarte Pieters. On the 2nd Christmas, December 25th, there is no emphasis on gift giving, just spending time with family.
• Sinterklaas or Sint Nikolaas is the basis of Santa Claus in the US.
  
• There are many Indonesian restaurants in the NL..and Chinese too. And the quality of the food is really high and amazingly good. Does anyone know of any good ones in Boston or NYC?
  
• The Dutch exports the largest percentage of beer than any other country, or about 50% of their annual production. That Grolsch, Heinekin, Amstel are all Dutch beers?
  
• Or that Tom Tom, INGDirect, Philips, Randstad, Shell, Spyker Cars (the co. that purchased Saab from GM), Unilever are Dutch companies?

Haarlem's Centraal train station. R says it's been filmed many times. I don't know what films though and haven't asked either. But it is pretty.


AMSTERDAM, NL
Fun facts about the NL

• Holland and the NL is sometimes used interchangeably but Holland is really just the western region of the NL.
• Amsterdam is named for the Amstel River which runs through Amsterdam.
  
• The Dutch invented the concept of the stocks and stock exchange? And the craze that started this? The tulip!
• Speaking of which, I always thought tulips were native to the NL. But tulips were brought to the NL from the Turkey (they grow natively in the Middle East and Central Asia).
• I can say a few phrases in Dutch like: hi is hoi; good day is dag; see you later is tot ziens; bye is doei; thank you (formal) is dank u vel; informally is bedankt; please is alstublieft; excuse me is pardon but if you pronounce it incorrectly, it means horse!
• That the Dutch start learning English at age 6? And by their teens, they take half of their classes in English? Another reason why they speak English so well is that American, British, and other foreign movies are not dubbed. Kids watch television shows and movies in their original language. In France, all movies are dubbed to French..and often times the dubbing is really bad. Sometimes they even use the same voice actor to play all the male parts and another voice actor to play all the female parts. It is so weird to hear Bart Simpson in a French voice!
• Besides English, the Dutch also learn German and French at a young age. But by their teens they need to pick 1 language to focus on and increasingly, they choose English even though German is the largest language group in continental Europe.
• In Amsterdam, as we were walking by, we noticed a courtyard so we walked in a found this...it is a hofje. This time, instead of taking a million pictures of Amsterdam, I just walked around and absorbed the vibe. Also, it was just too freaking cold to be taking out my camera to take the perfect shot! Oh...have you tried Maoz? It's a falafel place that was started in Amsterdam and is making its way to the US. I think NYC has 2 locations..I hope it goes to Boston one day. The falafels are delicious and you can fill your falafel sandwich as many times as you want from their delicious fresh salad bar.
• Another highlight of AMS was the Van Gogh museum. There we learned more about his life, his artistic inspirations, his close relationship with his younger brother, and his life in France, as well as the other artists of the time that he was inspired by.
  

MAASTRICHT, NL

Maastrict is a city in the south of the Netherlands. It is so south that they speak 3 languages there: Dutch, French, but also their own dialect. It is quite beautiful at this time of the year. Cute boutique shops and restaurants are dotted along the large pedestrian zone shopping area. While there we stayed at the nicest hotel during the entire trip....actually, they didn't like to be called a hotel but a "lodging" even though their name is Townhouse Design Hotel. Anyway, after staying a week in hotels, it was nice to stay at a homey place. It was a nice touch to offer guests a cup of hot delicious mushroom soup when we arrived - perfect to chase away the bitter chill over Maastricht.

Big wooden tables invited guests to sit and stay to enjoy a cup of coffee in the "living room"; there were hundreds of books and magazines along the wall lots; instead of bland couches and chairs, there were all sorts of designer chairs including some Eames leather and rocking chairs, and 2 fireplaces. There were cookies in Mason jars and bowls of fruit laid out for the taking. The fruit that is, not the jars or bowls themselves :) And they even had a fish bowl where you could feed the fish..just like home. And there were even nicely designed vending machines where you could purchase midnight snacks or beverages.

In Maastricht, we had a traditional Dutch soup - pea soup with bacon, ham and onions with some bread with more bacon. On a cold night, it was nice to keep warm with soup. And afterwards, we tried the Belgian fries. Again, they were ok, but nothing compared to the perfect fries and sambal/sate sauce we had last year in Haarlem. Apparently, the fries made by this guy in Haarlem are famous all over the NL. Darn him for being closed on a Monday!

All together, a very nice relaxing trip. Next time though, I really should go in April when the flower fields are in bloom and when it's not so cold!

Roadtrip to BENELUX

Winter is here! R and I just returned Thursday night from a 10-day road trip to BENELUX, a region which encompasses Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. While we were away, it snowed everyday for about a week...transforming our area into a white frosted winter wonderland. Our once green rolling hills have a fresh layer of snow that sparkles in the sunlight. And the trees on our mountain look like they've been dusted with powdered sugar.

With new tires, our old cranky Seat Ibiza (now made trusty after R's miraculous fix) drove us through the French countryside up to the Ardennes mountains in northern France. After 650km, we arrived at Luxembourg the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the 2nd smallest country in the EU, after Lichtenstein. Luxembourg city sits high up, with an unforgettable skyline dotted with towers, bridges, and old fortification walls.

Each city we visited has its own beat and charm. I couldn't help myself but take hundreds of photos, of people, things, and places I saw, so when I'm 82, I have a visual memory of what I did in my first year of living in Europe.

On this trip, I was seduced by the colors, shapes, designs..and it was nice learning about different customs in each country. Select pictures from our trip, starting with Luxembourg, then Brussels. I'll post more stories and pictures about the rest of the trip in later blog updates.

LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG



BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Belgians really love comic strips and cartoons. Evidence of this? Tintin hails from Brussels..and Brussels has a museum dedicated to comic strips. I thought only one worked on a comic strip, but at the museum, I learned that it's a team effort. One person to draw, another person to write the text, another to market the comic strips. Also, warning to Americans! The Smurfs are NOT an American invention. Peyo, a Belgian artist, first drew the Schtroumpfs in the 1950s as part of another comic strip.

Hanging out with Tintin, Lucky Luke, Asterix in the Comic Strip Museum.



Mannekin pis is soooooooo much smaller than I expected. But his likeness is happily pissing on everything, everywhere, including here at a Leonidas chocolate shop. While in Brussels, we tried the famous Belgium fries at Fritlande. Unfortunately, they were NOT the best fries I've ever tasted. The best fries I've ever had were actually in Haarlem, NL but the friterie was closed on Monday when we were in Haarlem :( But we did have really yummy Japanese and then delicious Thai in Brussels. We also stumbled on a great Lebanese shop selling platefuls of Lebanese pastries and sweets. Would you believe I didn't try any Belgian chocolate while I was in Belgium, but drank and very much enjoyed Duvel, a delicious Belgian beer?


At the Grand-Place (or Great Square), Brussels' hotel de ville is all lit up with a special light and music display. In Brussels, they speak French..and they celebrate Christmas! On our first night, on our walk to the big market square, we followed the lights and Christmas music we heard which led us to this.



The color, music, and dancing lights brought me Christmas cheer...and made me feel like a child again..in awe of possibilities. R and I were lucky to have caught the light display as the lighting engineers were rehearsing the show 2 days ahead of the opening of the Christmas Market on the Grand-Place.