La fin de 2011

A downtown plaza in Bruges

Happy New Year! Bonne année! Here in Pau we couldn't have been blessed with a more gorgeous day to ring in the new year. Here's hoping that this glorious day is just a taste of the beauty and goodness to come in the next year.

Right after my last post I took a night train from Pau to Paris to catch a train to Brussels and start a Belgium adventure with my friend Ali. My train left around 10:30pm on December 19th and arrived in Paris around 7AM the next day. It was my first time on an overnight train and it was definitely an experience. I had a "couchette," so I was lucky enough to sleep in a tiny room with four other people (an older gentleman, a college-aged young man, a mom and her young adult/teenage daughter) and all of our luggage. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounded and we weren't even the maximum number of six in the compartment. Sorry, there's no picture of the berth. Because my roommates turned the lights off immediately after the last people entered the cabin, I didn't have the opportunity. Because we weren't cruising to Paris on the sleek and fast TGV, sleeping was also a challenge as the train winded around corners and bumped along the tracks.

First meal in Belgium. Mussels and fries!

So after waking up a little early to make sure I was lucid when we arrived in Paris, I quietly crept out of my compartment with my bag to meet my friend Andria in another car and prepare for our mad dash to the next train station. We took the same train to Paris and both had to switch train stations once we got there to continue our journeys (mine to Belgium, hers to the Netherlands). We hopped off the train, took the metro and in much less time than I anticipated we had made it from Austerlitz station to the North station in plenty of time for our trains.

Does this look like Obama to you?

After a quick hour and a half train ride I finally got to Brussels, waited around a bit for Ali to get there and then we ventured by train to Bruges. By far, both of us preferred Bruges to Brussels. It's a cute town and in spite of the overcast, drizzly weather and the decent number of tourists it still had a certain charm. We stayed at a wonderful hostel with friendly staff and a welcoming, cozy atmosphere. With the help of its inexpensive bar Ali and I were able to try a good number of Belgian beers during our stay. While in Bruges we took a free walking tour of the city, went to a chocolate museum and saw a chocolate "Obama," took a tour of a brewery, visited the Church of Our Lady and saw Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, hung out at the Christmas market, saw some other picturesque areas of the city and most importantly, ate plenty of delicious waffles, chocolate and fries.
                                                                   

On our walking tour of Bruges!

Ali and I had planned on spending two days in Bruges and two days in Brussels, but after seeing signs posted all over our hostel in Bruges saying that there was a going to be a train strike on the day we were planning to leave for Brussels, we realized we would have to change our plans. We grew to really love Bruges and were happy to spend an extra day and when it came down to it, we were sad to say goodbye. We took a train back to the big city of Brussels, went to our swanky (yet not as cozy and comfy hostel) and then went to explore the city in the rain and cold. We didn't do too much because we only had one day, but we ended up visiting the comic book museum there and going to a cool marionette theatre called "Café Toone" where we saw a puppet play in French on a comedic twist of the Nativity and the massacre of the Innocents. It was hilarious and such a fun experience to see a play in this style, because to me, seeing marionettes perform in a tiny theatre like this is the epitome of Europe. These two things and a cool light show for Christmas at the Grand Place were definitely Brussels' gems.

The stage at Café Toone

After a day in Brussels we headed back to Paris on Christmas Eve. With some of Ali's family and Andria who joined us in the city, we had a nice little Christmas in the City of Lights. We went to Christmas Eve mass at Notre Dame, which was definitely an experience. It was the international mass (but still done in French), so the cathedral was full of tourists and there was a huge line outside to enter. It was a bit strange for me to see people walking around, taking pictures and being touristy in the middle of mass, but regardless I enjoyed the opportunity to attend mass at Notre Dame. The music was absolutely beautiful as well. After mass we were treated to a parade of Jewish Parisians celebrating Hannukah and raising awareness for the holiday by driving around in cars with huge, lit-up menorahs gracing the tops of their vehicles. It definitely added to the magic of the evening.

Notre Dame on Christmas Eve

Christmas market by la Tour Eiffel

Christmas day was pretty low-key. Andria and I explored a Christmas market right by the Eiffel Tower and I got hit by a snowball from people "snoeshowing" on an "icy slope," haha. In the evening all of us had a delicious Christmas dinner of lentil stew that Ali's brother made. For dessert we had chocolate, cookies and a "bûche de Noël," a typical French Christmas dessert which is basically a fancy cake with frosting shaped like a log. Yum! As enjoyable as Christmas in Paris was, it really made me realize how much the holidays are centered around family. My friends and I had to constantly remind ourselves that it was Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, because when you're riding the metro across the city or eating a croissant at your hostel for breakfast, it just doesn't sink in, even if there's Christmas music playing or Christmas lights twinkling in the city. I'm so happy to have had this experience, but definitely missed being with my family for Christmas.

See the elf Amélie on the window?

Andria and I only spent one more day in Paris, and with Ali it was again a pretty relaxed day. We visited the Sacré Cœur and hung out in Montmartre by our hostel. We ended up going to the "Café des 2 Moulins," which is the café featured in the popular French film Amélie. It was cool to have a coffee, soak up the ambiance and chat with a cute, friendly waiter. :-) Later in the day we met up with an old French friend I met while studying in Grenoble. It was so great to see her and catch up a bit.

So that, in a very large nutshell, was my vacation. It was great to discover some of Belgium and spend Christmas in a cool city with friends. I was hoping to spend New Year's in an equally cool city, but laziness and bad weather combined forces so that my friend and I just ended up staying here in Pau. Even so, it was a nice New Year's Eve, having dinner and hanging out with friends. Now, I'm preparing (or I should say trying to prepare) to go back to the grind on Tuesday. It was a great vacation and I'm sad to see it go, but a part of me is excited to start working with the students again, see the other assistants who went home/traveled during the vacation and start off my last four months here right. To you and yours, I wish the best and hope that 2012 is the year for you.

But before signing off, I've been cooking a bit and here are some pictures of what's been going on in the kitchen:

Carbonara pasta. Really popular over here!

After coming back from Paris Andria and I had dinner and made this lovely quiche with spinach, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, emmental and goat cheeses.

The last piece of a quiche Andria and I made.

 And with the left over dough I made these yummy little baby tartelettes!

A baby Nutella and banana pie.

A baby apple pie.

                                            Again, Happy New Year!