Noël, Noël

It is not the 25 - 26 hot, relative filled, pudding consuming Christmas for me this year. The french celebrate the birth of christ from the 24th to the 25th, and in my ever-so-wonderful host family the festivities affirmed this. When I woke (It turns out that I actually was very tired - I slept for eleven hours!) Michel and Anne - Sophie left to go Christmas shopping, so I had a little brekky and showered etc. Maryse and I ate lunch together; it was tiny compared to the norm because we were making room for the dinner. (The dinner on the 24th is generally as big; if not bigger than the actual meal on Christmas day) It was rice with vegetable patties, which pretty much shut down the patties I have been eating for the whole of my vegetarian life! They were great. Maryse took me to collect my money from (from the western union bank transfer) but regrettably the post office was closed. I could have screamed at this. I have had enough of these bloody money dramas; thats for sure. For anyone who embarks on an exchange mike this; that is the FIRST thing that needs to be organised! Seriously, it has just been a huge stress, because exchange students are not allowed to borrow from their families. Even thought Anne - Sophie 5 ('Fuck the rules!' when I stated the rule) , Maryse and Michel have offered to loan me money, I know that I would feel more uncomfortable in that situation as it breaks one law of my exchange. It is just very frustrating and makes me very uncomfortable. Anne-Sophie and I then spent two hours hunting for a cadeaux for one person. I highly doubt that they read this, but wont say anymore untill they have recieved their gift. Anyway we wrent into alot of shops to find the right item, and got out last set of bonbons from the Centre Jacobins! We have been eating them everytime we go to town for a while now, and even if they arenot up to French food standards I still think that I will miss them. We shopped in the La place de la République; at the le marche de noël; Galeries layfayette and at the centre jacobins. La place de la République is the centre of the town; where we get off the tram, and in it is the marche de noël; almost like a market place of shops which are very christmassy; glittery and small amazing. The Galeries Layfayette is like our David Jones, and it has sophistocated water dispensers on the first and third floors, so I have been there for that reason. I also have been there to perfume up. Gotta love french perfumes. The centre jacobins is kind of like the Myer centre, but it has only two floors. At this time of year it has very posh Christmas music playing. So Anne - Sophie and I left, and we took the tram, my favourite! The trams were only constructed two years ago, and are clean, modern and generally a pleasure to travel in. They also have this voice who states: Prochaine Arrêt: Universite. etc. It is really slow speaking, with a lovely french accent, and so all the way home Anne-Sophie and I practised with the voice. I actually think I improved my accent. The guy next to us stared like we had four ears, but it was great fun. Christmas eve dinner started pretty soon after we returned, and it was intense. First it was foie gras, salmon, and fish eggs on various breads with little decorations. I had orangina, while the others had champagne. Then it was little prawns and oysters, followed by little lobsters which were marinated and one of the best courses I have had in my time here. Then it was the main dish, fish in a citron sauce, and we skipped the salad cos everyone was bloated. Fruit salad and then cheese. We went to the cathedral for mass, which I think I will get married in. It was what I have always imagined the Taj Mahal to look like, but I couldnt take photos because the service was going on. But it was by far the most amazing (catholic) place of worship I have seen. However, I had a revelation in the church and so probably wont attend a service in the not-to distant future (by choice - school masses dont count) We came home, and put out our shoes for a visit from Pere Noël. I got a french perfume, which smells absolutley incredible. It is the third-best selling perfume in France, and consequently is just fabulous. The perfect present! I also got some chocolates which are the best I have ever had, and also a big fat yellow ribbon for school from Anne-Sophie. We then had dessert; chocolate cake, and went to bed very content. I got up in the morning and went for a run, my seconf in France. The pace was very slow, but it was very cold and I was wearing skins, shorts, jumper and tee-shirt. There was not a time when I considered taking off my jumper, and I returned not yet warm. It is very weird to be running in these conditions, but I prefer it hugely to the heat that I have run in in the past. But after a long time without running and a completley different diet over here, it feels so good after running. And the countryside is amazing. As we had Christmas with Michel's family on Sunday, and Maryse's brother lives in Lyon, it was just the four of us. So we sat down to have lunch after my run, and it was entrée as before, but that was amusing as foie gras was on the menu, and at the same time there was a doco on the tele about the reality and ethics of such a food. The way the animals were treated was awful, and so I was glad that I had passed on that opportunity. Piegon was the main dish (How hysterical!) and the stuffing was great. We then had salad and bread and cheese, followed by mousse. It all was good. Needless to say, we had a smaller dinner!

All in all, it was a very different Christmas, but one that I enjoyed immensley.

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=bixuvQ1ZT0g
(What I have seen in my spare time.)

bonnes fêtes and bisous!!

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