1 Home for the Holidays

I've been to Boston



and New York;



I've seen friends from school



and friends from home.



We ate truffles with foie gras and risotto on Christmas Eve;



and spent Christmas at home with close family



and cake.



Today we're snowed in. My mom couldn't be more excited to have all four of us stuck in the house.

0 Almost home

On Friday morning, I'm heading back to the U.S., where I'll be spending my Christmas vacation. Upon arrival in New York, I'll immediately fly to Boston to celebrate the birthdays of two of my best friends. I'll finally get home on Sunday night, and am so looking forward to decorating the tree and listening to Christmas music around the fire. I can only imagine (or hope) that my mom has a few quality meals up her sleeve. I'll be seeing some friends that I haven't seen in a year or longer, and I can't wait to be home with them, even in the short amount of time we have.

Here are some more pictures from last weekend in Périgueux.


I went into the cathedral in Périgueux for the first time. A cathedral like that, it feels so grand and important and old and it makes you feel so...I dunno...small. Reverent? Appreciative? You feel hushed into silence the moment you walk in.

(In this last photo, Aissa is sitting in the park behind the cathedral, where we drank undoubtetdly the best hot chocolates I have ever tasted.)

1 Noël dans la Dordogne

I know the people who live in Bergerac or Périgueux don't have the same feelings of wonder I do when they see Christmas lights over the Dordgone or in the cobblestone streets. I guess we take what we know for granted, even the beautiful things.

Bergerac


Périgueux

0 Bordeaux à Noël

The weather took a drastic turn for the frigid this week, apropos to the start of the Christmas season. On Thursday, it was snowing in Bergerac as the city Christmas lights turned on. We spent a whirlwind 24 hours from Friday to Saturday in even colder Bordeaux for the Christmas markets, holiday shopping, and a dressy night out.

(When Ellie and I first arrived, we stopped into a random café while we waited for the 4pm check-in into our hotel. A guy playing guitar and a girl on accordian were practicing for a performance that night, so we got our own private concert.)

(My beautiful Bergerac best friend)

I felt so happy walking through the markets at night. They were one of my favorite memories from living in Aix. I lived only a ten-minute walk from the Cours Mirabeau, the main street in Aix, and I would walk the length of it every day on my way home from school in December, seeing the same stands, the same soaps and lavender satchels and barrels of vin chaud. But I never got sick of it. Christmas in France is tirelessly magical.


Saturday was warmer, and sunny, and we wandered from our hotel towards the center of town, passing old squares and cathedrals. We stumbled upon a huge flea market and wished we had a van to caravan cool antique furniture back to Bergerac.