25 Dec 2013

DSCN0765 First things first.. DSCN0763 Then some Christmas music DSCN0764 Some last-minuter surfing DSCN0766 Then on to the presents!
DSCN0770 Robot hand toy and chopsticks DSCN0771 Thank you, thank you!! DSCN0775 The gifts were not almost obvious DSCN0777 Matching crampons!!
DSCN0779 Mary-Jo surrounded by loot DSCN0782 What could this be?? DSCN0784 Some very perplexed moments here DSCN0785 before Christine figures out, with considerable help, that it is a trivet
DSCN0786 A device to measure exercising (Fit Bit) DSCN0788 A Swiss made belt DSCN0790 Trying it on DSCN0792 Francis opening one of his presents
DSCN0794 under the watchful eyes of Mary-Jo and Austin DSCN0795 Home theater at its best DSCN0797 Christmas morning I DSCN0798 Christmas morning II
DSCN0802 Nikki loves her Austin DSCN0803 as Austin checks out his Swiss belt DSCN0804 Nikki and Austin in their corner, surrounded by booty DSCN0805 Mary-Jo inspects the excellent calendar made by Christine for the family
DSCN0806 as do Nikki and Austin DSCN0809 Vivi wonders how long it will take for Christine to figure it out DSCN0810 If it keeps her organized, she loves it! DSCN0811 At the end of the exercise, a fine haul indeed!
DSCN0812 A short walk to Montmartre DSCN0813 to join the other hundred thousand Parisians and tourists at this famous site DSCN0814 The view across Paris DSCN0815 The crowds sloshing through the streets of Pigalle
DSCN0816 At the Basilique, sacred words DSCN0817 in gilded Latin DSCN0818 down the butte DSCN0819 I need to remember this store.
DSCN0820 Elizabeth Kolbert just wrote an article about Cuvier in the New Yorker DSCN0821 We return to the apartment through another arch DSCN0823 adorned with Christmas trees and pigeons DSCN0824 After Christmas dinner (leg of lamb - no photos??) we go to Colombes, stopping on the way for a bouquet
DSCN0825 Flowers in the subway on Christmas Day DSCN0827 The new and very improved Gare St-Lazare DSCN0828 The same old commuter train out to the suburbs DSCN0829 Francis was our flower porter
DSCN0830 Christine on her pilgrimage to 23 Av. Troussel, where Claire spent her early childhood. DSCN0831 Christine with Senta Thibault, mother to Jean-Christophe and grandmother to Fanny et Co. DSCN0832 The tree lights were really candles!! DSCN0833 Francis photographs, Hannah knits
DSCN0835 Nathalie Thibault serves dessert while the dog licks his chops DSCN0836 Ulrike, Francis and Fanny DSCN0837 Our visit was "rapide", and soon we were back in the Metro station beneath St-Lazare DSCN0838 We called ahead and told those in apartment that we would meet them at Opera again.
DSCN0840 To see the Christmas lights DSCN0844 Streets around the Opera DSCN0846 Gaily lit DSCN0849 Very crystalline scene in the Place de Vendome
DSCN0850 Slight miscalculation DSCN0851 This place is home to designer shops only DSCN0855 Mary-Jo before the Christmas tree DSCN0857 J'adore Dior
DSCN0859 Mary-Jo bundled up against the cold DSCN0861 Ian and Vivi I DSCN0862 Ian and Vivi II DSCN0866 la Madeleine in violet
DSCN0867 The storefronts at night DSCN0869 but the rain started and we headed back down in the Metro