hello, goodbye january

Well, January has passed faster than the speed of light... I have no idea how that happened! We booked a ski trip with 6 friends this year to Val Thorens in Les Trois Vallées. Mark hopped off a flight from Japan with enough time to switch suitcases and we caught a train on a Wednesday morning. We rented a chalet in Val Thorens and the pictures did not represent it well online when we booked it. It was beautiful! We hardly wanted to leave!

It was one of the highest chalets in the village. We could easily ski-out from the door, but skiing-in was reserved for those with a little more experience. On day one, a friend and I thought we knew how to get back on skis and let's just say I rolled down most of the hill instead of staying upright. The group was very diverse in their abilities so we kind of split up for most of the days. We all skied three days, some longer days than others! On day 2, while Mark decided to take a zipline flying 800 feet above the ground, I decided to just head up to the higher mountain and keep my skis on the snow!

After the zipline, Mark met the group I was with at the top of a slope where there was a HUGE party! The slopes closed at dusk... lifts stopped at 4:15pm... and a DJ played at a bar/restaurant until then. As soon as the sun went behind the mountain, we hurried down the mountain. Mostly because it was cold, but also because there were going to be a lot of people shooting down it in a few short minutes!

On our last day, the slopes were pretty icy. Of course the day when I feel like I might have had my best ski legs! Mark decided to take some easy slopes and stick with me before we ate lunch on the mountain as a group.

We decided to stay in and eat like those in the mountains with raclette cheese, a tradition, and loads of other meats and salads. After, we headed to the bowling alley to finish off our trip! Mark claims he was the most sore from bowling. I guess I don't try as hard at bowling as him!

Sunday morning, we caught an early train back to Paris. It was nice to get back early enough to enjoy a little of the day. We came back to a rainy week... which makes me really wish we were back in the snow!



o christmas tree

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we set out to find our Christmas tree. Last year, we bought one at le supermarche but this year we decide to try a floral shop to avoid it being as wide as tall. This decision also meant we had to take the tree on the bus... thankfully, it wasn't too busy!

We have to agree that the tree is a lot better this year but I think it's going to have to be bagged up before we take off for the US... we are losing a lot of needles and it might be bare if we wait until we return!

thankful life

On Thanksgiving morning, my brother, dad and I headed to the Catacomb entrance. The Catacombs are unground ossuaries that hold the remains of almost 6 million people.

My brother wanted to go the last time he visited but I thought it might be a bit too tight for a semi-claustrophobic sister. Dad and I put our claustrophobia aside and joined in. Surprisingly, if you forgot that you were underground, it wasn't too bad down there!

It was worth the visit. I don't know that I would have stood in line for hours to see it, but I'm glad I got to. The visit definitely gave us something to be thankful for later that day!

atop la tour

My parents and brother made the long trip across the pond for Thanksgiving and we decided to kick off the week with a trip to the tippity top of la tour Eiffel. I'd been to the 2nd level, but never further. We climbed the 669 steps to the second level and then hopped an elevator to the top.

disneyland paris

A couple weekends ago we decided to visit Disneyland Paris with some friends... one who has a 2 year old. We figured a random November Saturday would be better than the summer but it was so busy - the line for our friends' daughter to meet the princesses was estimated at 240 minutes long SO we definitely skipped out on that! Maybe because of the new addition of Christmas decorations to the park and the arrival of Santa... but it was still fun!

After a full day, four hours of standing in line for four rides, and  the confirmation that I still hate rides, we waited around a little longer to see the light show on the castle.

It was pretty awesome, including some fireworks. We all loaded the train back to the city completely exhausted! I guess I can check "Disney" off my list of places visited since it was a first for me.

sir elton

When we went to Les Vieilles Charrues, we (or I) went solely to see Sir Elton John sing his heart out, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Luckily, he decided to make a visit to Paris and Mark snagged some tickets! He bought the tickets last May so I made sure to put it on the calendar and not forget about it on a random November Wednesday. Even with a cold, Elton John was amazing! He played for over two hours.

I was too busy being mesmerized by his piano talent to take too many photos... it was so good!

rugby football

Just because there hasn't been much activity on here doesn't mean that it's been boring around here...

Last year - wait, almost TWO years ago - when we visited Paris (the first time ever for me) because Mark got invited to a rugby match, I definitely didn't think I'd be living here or that I'd be in the same seats he was, cheering "Allez les Bleus." But I got invited to join the crew this year!

We did a little pre-game match tailgating outside the stadium. Because it was a work event, we got to sit in the fancy box seats and were invited to come early to eat and mingle. The scene definitely wasn't the same as American football tailgating but it was still a great time! And let's just clear up that there weren't any turkey legs or slices of pizza to eat... a traditional four course French dinner was served "buffet" style and champagne was flowing as fast as it was sipped.

FRACE WINS!