Well the Xmas holidays kicked off with me criss-crossing down Eastern France to get to Annecy. Was stuck in Nancy for an hour and a half due to the train being overloaded and hence overcharged with power. I got talking to the guy next to me – a uni student on his back down to Nimes in the South to spend Xmas with his family who had spent 6 weeks working in New Zealand last year. Where are the ticket inspectors? I ask him. They’re hiding, he tells me. The train is so delayed, they don’t want to show their faces. They’d get ripped to shreds. Sure enough, when they did gallantly poke their heads out, the hapless passengers did what they do best round here and chimed in with some of the best whining I’ve heard yet. So I managed to miss all the trains I’d booked but fortunately grabbed the following services and arrived in Annecy a few hours late.
The main event at Christmas is dinner on the 24th and I spent it with relatives at Sylvie's - my second cousin’s place. Was frankly surprised to see how much seafood they have at Xmas – they’d give us a run for our money for sure. So dinner was fois gras, snails, prawns, oysters, smoked salmon, bouche de noel (Xmas cake).
The main event at Christmas is dinner on the 24th and I spent it with relatives at Sylvie's - my second cousin’s place. Was frankly surprised to see how much seafood they have at Xmas – they’d give us a run for our money for sure. So dinner was fois gras, snails, prawns, oysters, smoked salmon, bouche de noel (Xmas cake).
Above: Escargots de bourgogne
Above: Valentine & Mathilde with two Xmas presentsFor the most part a pretty quiet ten days: Patricia (another cousin) and I headed up the mountain on raquettes (snow-shoes) for an awesome two-hour walk; we checked out a demonstration night of the beautiful sport of biathlon (cross-country skiing and shooting); downed copious amounts of le thom, gruyère, brie, comte and vin rouge.
Above: Overlooking Le Tour on the hike.
Above: Standing at the crossroads @ Le Planet
Otherwise, I'm feeling settled in here...and the language has ceased to sound foreign. Not much else to report on back in St Die. If something moves you’ll be the first to know!
The weather: a far bit warmer - about 3 to 6 degrees the past few weeks.
On my iPod
Crowded House - Even A Child. Now would someone give Johnny Marr's number to Morrissey!
The Byrds - John Riley. Superb demonstration of their vision of trad folk and a power socket.
The Triffids - Good Fortune Rose. A bit of Aussie sun in the depths of winter.
The Flying Burrito Brothers - Sing Me Back Home. Nudie suits, Gram Parsons, Bolivian marching powder and a Merle Haggard classic. This might be called a good combination.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Right Out Of Your Hand. Pashernate.
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