Our deep apologies for the lateness of this post. We traveled at the end of December into beginning of January and did not get this done before we left. But we’ve returned and here is our last month’s recounting.
Deck the halls and light the tree! The holiday month opened with a flurry of activity. The store windows were not as fancy as they are decorated in San Francisco or New York but they were festive none the less. Pastry shops were packed with delights and the food specialty shops were doing a brisk business.
The Christmas Market had opened with its Ferris Wheel, spin ride and toddlers train ride. The stalls of holiday foods, decorations and gift offerings were all ready, welcoming the crowds.
We spent time constructing a box with a lid, to cover the air conditioner. After wrapping it like a giant present, we then had a stand for the tree which could be rolled up to the window each day after opening the stain glass shutters.
We pulled out the stored tree, strung it with lights and decorated it with both ornaments and baked cookies. Pleased with our efforts, we strung lights around the window frame as well. We were unable to find any boughs in the local floral shops so we were forced to order one online. With the strike activity, the bough delivery was delayed well into the month and even when it came, it did not match the photo of the product. It was just too disappointing to use. Not to be wasted, we decorated the lobby mailbox with it !
We baked more cookies, delivering parcels to all of the people we’ve gotten to know in town. After delivering some to our upstairs neighbors, We invited them over to share some tapas and wine. We were surprised to discover that the residents in the building didn’t know each other. And thank goodness, the party was a success. We tried a couple of store made appetizers, made a few of our own, had wine and beer available. The four upstairs flat mates all came as did the resident on the top floor. A great lively bunch, they even humored us by playing a quick party game we introduced that bypassed the language barrier. At first they were leery, as it was not their custom to play games but eventually they each relaxed and had fun with it. We bid them goodnight at the end of the evening as we all promised to meet In the future to see one of them perform at a local bar, in a band they were part of.
There were major protests in France regarding the government’s plan to standardize pension plans. One protest march occurred in Lille, with tear gas and smoke bombs on the main street, ending with the large Apple store having two smashed windows. With the strikes and protests, the train lines were frequently canceled, along with the metros. G’s high school buddy and his wife were visiting from California and had stopped in Paris on their way to stay with us. Unfortunately they were not able to get a train to Lille because of the strikes and ran out of time, returning to the states without being able to see us.
We enjoyed the month and it’s decorations in town on our walks, even doing a very French pastime of walking, window shopping, while munching on hot baguette sandwiches from their paper bags. We slowly assembled an Advent calendar which a friend had brought to us from the states, which was a very clever design. It was packaged in a square box decorated as a North Pole train station building and upon opening the doors, it revealed a stack of shelves. Each shelf had numbered compartments which then assembled over the month a darling three dimensional balsa wood train scene complete with a track, train, tunnel, water tower, stop sign, a variety of background pieces of people and two landscapes.
We enjoyed playing holiday music, baking cookies and we tried our hand at making eggnog. The first recipe was fine but G maintained that it didn’t taste right. The second was better but contained so much alcohol that it was damned near flammable. We shared both batches with Cyril upstairs, who had never tasted it, then fell totally in love with eggnog. He asked for the recipe, tried his hand on it, then brought us his results which tasted great.
Despite the strikes, we managed to get a train to Brussels to see their Christmas market, then to Leige to visit theirs before finishing at Nemur’s market. In Brussels, we endured strong, bitingly cold winds to walk their small market and stayed overnight before traveling on to Leige. The town is very charming, laid out nicely with curving cobblestone streets. We traveled onto Namur and checked in to a stay on a houseboat. The hosts were very nice, serving a delicious breakfast the next morning before we explored the downtown. It is overlooked by the largest citadel in Europe – an imposing, grand structure.
The market was quite small and once we’d seen it all, we checked at the train station to discover there were only two trains running to Lille. Our choices were slim in returning home if one or both lines were canceled due to the strikes, so we trained to Brussels, which had more lines running, increasing the odds in our favor. It was a prudent step and we were able to travel back to Lille without incident. Bitter cold and sleet greeted us but couldn’t dampen our holiday spirit. Once in the apartment, we put on some George Winston holiday music, a pot of sauerkraut and sausages and snuggled in for the night, happy to be back in our own place.
In our walks, we chanced across an intriguing hotel bar and stopped for a cocktail. They were serious cocktail mixers and to our amazement we watched as a stream of concoctions continued to pass us by, served in flower vases with a wide variety of adornments. These drinks were positively staggerIng.
Flo texted us with an invitation to join his family at his parents home for a traditional holiday dinner. It was SO exciting. We went to a specialty wine store to get assistance in picking a good wine for a gift and stopped at one of the florists to get an arrangement. When we arrived, we met his brother who was visiting from Canada, a cousin and a nephew. His sister and his grandmother, whom we had met previously, were also there.
We began with a tasty champagne Gran Marnière cocktail, settling in, getting to know each other. Then when we moved into the dining room, we began the most amazing dinner. His father fillets and smokes his own salmon, while his mother makes her own Fois Grais. Every bite was so exquisite, that I found that I was far behind the others in finishing my serving. In fact the poor group had to wait between each course for me because I just couldn’t keep up! Forgive us for not taking more pictures – we were too busy eating!
The next course had five dishes; a chicken in a sauce from the east of France, escargot in a garlic, spinach sauce from the north, shrimp in another sauce from the south and a chopped endive nut salad. I really wish I could be more specific regarding the various sauces but my language skills were not able to interpret, during the meal. Fresh breads and confits accompanied these fabulous flavors.
Next we were served an incredible trio of cheeses which were from a neighbor’s farm, which we came to understand were not available in the markets. Just when I was waving the white flag of surrender, a trio of homemade desserts arrived; pistachio ice cream, vanilla cream with a sauce containing raspberries and meringues with a cherry sauce. This was finished with a 20 year old wine – again, shoot me now because I can’t tell you what it was.
The entire invitation, occasion, company, and feast was such an honor to be part of. How we ever fit into the car for the ride home, remains a complete mystery. It was an evening we will never forget.
The last Christmas market we took in was the biggest in Paris. Although it reportedly had about 200 stalls, it was a bit disappointing. With the strike traffic, it took us over an hour to get there. It was laid out on a large outdoor plaza but was missing the overall theme or feel of a Christmas village due to a lack of decorations. It differed greatly from the charm of the Strasbourg, Colmar and German towns along the Reine. Many of the Paris market stalls carried the same goods and most were commercial manufacturing. They did have an abundance of restaurant stalls and our lunch at one was quite tasty. We were able to pick up a much better bough for our balcony and at one of the artisan distillers we also bought a lovely pear cognac bottled with an intricate glass blown ship inside.
Back in Lille, we had an old friend stay for an overnight visit, which was fun. We toured both the old town and the market, which she enjoyed. In our walk, I also found a hair salon I liked – I’d been hunting for a new one. The last one gave me something close to a G.I.. Jane buzz cut – never a great look. This fellow looks very much like the actor Billy Connally, with a hearty laugh and speaking not a lick of English. He gave me a terrific cut in a quick fashion – so much that I kid you not – it felt like Edward Scissorhands was chopping away.
Sporting my new haircut, we slid into Christmas Eve by celebrating at one of the few open restaurants. They had an undetermined prix fix menu when we made reservations and we were crushed to discover, after being seated with a bottle of wine, that the main entre was scallops, which we are allergic to. Never fear, we soldiered on by eating the appetizer, salads and dessert. Back home, we finished off the marvelous cheeses that Flo’s mother had sent us home with. It was a lovely Christmas Eve and Christmas day, spent leisurely in our pajamas, topped with a prime rib dinner that G made.
Finally, this month, all of the street art structures were removed during the night. It was so much fun to have them as part of our neighborhood this year, and it never failed to delight in watching people, especially the kids, having their pictures taken alongside the art pieces. We were sorry to see them go.
Two days later, we were on a flight to the states for a 10 day vacation and business trip, having overlooked finishing our December tale for you all. We apologize again and bid you a Happy New Year.
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