Christmas time is here

... and hopefully the eurostar is running.....

Just a quick message before the last minute rush.

We are supposed to be going to London for Christmas.  I say supposed to be, as the eurostar has been running a very limited service due to all the snow we have had in France and England.  Not only has it affected the airports, but the trains have been hard hit as well.

As of this evening the website was saying we will travel, but then we have had more snow since that update.

Who knows what will happen.

What I do know is that whether we are in London or Paris we will have a lovely Christmas.  There is a good chance it will be a white Christmas, and that is something special for these little Aussies.

The boys are going to the cat sitter tomorrow, I will miss them enormously.  It will be a huge change for Eric who thinks he is so big and brave and fearless.  A real character.  He is growing at a great rate of knots and is becoming more and more acrobatic with each day.  Learning new tricks - when he wants to (he is a cat after all - not a goggie), and being so cute it is hard to punish him when he is naughty.  His latest trick is to bring me his stuffed toys whilst I am sleeping.  I wake up in the morning with a collection in bed with me.  Adores his stuffed skunk and lamb, carries them around the appartement and keeps them near him, and thinks his bilby is the perfect toy to bash up.  The Loch Ness monster he just washes and fusses over.  Plays fetch when he is in the mood and there is nothing better to do.

Guy is getting a bit muscular now.  All the playing chase around the appartement is doing him good.  Still a gorgeous snuggly boy though. 

It will be good to have a big house for them to play in.  I can imagine the games of chase up and down all the staircases...... and they will learn all about basking in front of an open fire.  Something which I am sure they will excell at.

No pics of decorations.  Due to having a teenaged kitten/cat and being about to move house, I have not done any lighting or decorations at all.  Must say I do miss the smell of pine boughs in the house. 

The pic above was taken by Wayne in Beaver Creek USA last winter.  Kind of appropriate for here this winter.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas with family and friends.

Christkindelmarik, Strasbourg 2010

Just a quick post with an update on the trip to Strasbourg.....

Yes it did go ahead.  The TGV was running, albeit at a much slower speed than usual.

We had a fabulous day wandering around the city and exploring the little markets scattered throughout it.

Lunch was sauerkraut (for C.) and Civet de Biche (venison casserole, for me).  

The whole city smelt like Christmas.  Spicy, warm and enticing.

Lights and decorations abounded, and the whole city felt very welcome and a bit like Santa's grotto....

 More pics in the album to the left.

The angel picture is specially for two lovely friends.  Firstly to Joan.  Her Christmas angels are glorious affairs.  Hope you like the ones at the top of the post Joan.

 

 These ones are for Barbara.  Well wishes and hope you are not having too rough a time with chemo.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

What a whirlwind the past month has been.  We have had many things to do and I have not been able to update via posts.

First news, in february we are moving house.  We will still be in France, but are moving to a different part of France.  Our new home will be in the Poitou-Charentes.  More on that as it happens.

As part of the move we have been making visits to find a new home, looking at the logistics of the move, researching what is required to furnish the new home, and also researching what type of car to buy (something which will be essential in the new city).  

At this stage I have done all I can, and now have to sit back and let things run their course.

Meanwhile, life is busy here with the wind up to Christmas and the party season.  I must thank all of you who sent birthday greetings.  It was really appreciated and I was touched that so many thought of me on this milestone birthday.

My plans for this week included a trip to Strasbourg to visit the Christmas markets.... as with all the best laid plans, there has been a slight glitch.  As in over 15cm of glitch called snow. (I gave up measuring at 15cm and went inside, but it continued to snow for a while longer so possibly it reached 20cm here on the hill).  I am monitoring the train website and we shall see if the trip goes ahead or not.

A simple trip to exchange my library books today turned into a 3 hour saga to get home.  Living on top of Butte Montmartre may be charming and picturesque.... but it means you get cut off by transport and cannot walk up the hill in the snow.  All good fun in the end though.  

I have added a new photo album to the sidebar and you can see some pics I took this afternoon when I finally made it home.  The cute puppy is called Pauline, and she was so excited to see snow.  It was the most adorable thing to watch her playing.  Pouncing at snowdrifts, biting at the flakes as they fell, and sneezing when she bit a huge pile of snow and it went up her nose.  Hope you enjoy seeing our quartier as much as I enjoyed taking the photos.

Oh, and yes, I did go out and have a good old fashioned snowball fight with everyone in the neighbourhood whilst taking the pics........ of course.