My apologies, dear reader, for my absence in the past near two months. It seems like I got lost just after Thanksgiving, time sped up with the Fête des Lumières in Lyon, the intense final moments at the Biennale, a whirl-wind move back to Toulouse and then the unpack-repack for our trip the the States for Christmas. And since then, I’ve been struggling with jetlag and writing term papers for classes I never went to, ouf. Well, enough explaining. Here is a little photo recap of the time we’ve missed.
Lights in Lyon. Ever since my days in Dijon I’ve wanted to go to the Fête des Lumières in Lyon but I have never summoned the courage to face the mobs nor to organize a trip that over 3 million other tourists will be simultaneously oprganizing. My stay in the second city of France for the Biennale ended up providing the perfect opportunity to go out and experience the event that makes the city so famous (or to take shelter and hide in my flat!) A couple of friends from work and I banded together and walked about to see several of the light shows (and the general state of preparedness the city takes on to accomodate the surge of humans that descend upon the city) on Thursday evening. My favorite was Place des Terreaux. Scary and incredible!
Christmas in Ohio. Two short days after we’d crammed all my Lyon accumulations into rucksacks and duffles, we turned arouund and hitched a flight to Cincinnati. Edd can tell you that the morning of said flight I bolted up and proclaimed my excitation like a little girl on Christmas morning. Travels were long but went smoothly, and soon we were cradeled in the epicentre of home for me, my parents’ house. My mom and dad went over the top this year with the decorations (nearly all vintage) and after days and days of being there, Edd and I were still discovering new nooks and cranies filled with Christmas cheer. Our first few days in Ohio were spent surrounded by family and family friends – a restorative time after the chaotic days at the Biennale.
College friend reunion. A day after Christmas we headed north to Columbus, where I went to school. Destination: Meister household for a little reunion of sorts. Here we found Laura and her man Dylan, proud owners of an adorable new home! Not long after our penny-tour and Christmas story swapping were we joined by Hillary. With these two girls I form a trio. College roommates and best buds with whom many a great times were passed. We had two short days together but covered lots of Columbus ground, checked many favorite places off our list, and laughed with other old friends that I hadn’t seen in much too long: Carolyn, Chris and Doug.
Chanukah. Back in Cincinnati, it was time for another round of reuniting. This time with my high school gang. It’s incredible what we’ve all become; travelled all over and walking each different but amazing paths. Annika got us all together once again for an old tradition we had back in the day, a Chanukah dinner at her parents house. The beloved tradition dishes were served: brisket, latkes, and a towering chocolate cake. The Chanukah poppers popped and paper crowns worn by all. Edd’s first Chanukah!
New year’s feast. For new year’s eve, we weren’t quite sure what to do. We we a small group, not too keen on going wild and dancing all night, nor the crowded lonliness of celebrating midnight at a bar. At the very last moment, I had the idea to do an asian hot pot. We sliced up many meats and vegetables, spiked some chicken stock with garlic and ginger, and fired up the pot (in our case, a deep electric skillet). With sauces and salad, this spread was a formidable feast and needless to say, near midnight, with bellies so full, we were not moving very much! We calmly rang in 2012 with Dick Clark on the TV – I have been so disoriented on the 31st here in France without him, Times Square and the big ball crackling in the background of the party!
And sadly our Ohio trip came to an end just three days in to the new year. We headed back to France on a big Delta flight, overnight. Now, a week later, I think I just may be at last getting back into the time-rhythm here. It’s lovely to be back in Toulouse with my sweetie. Life is settling back into place. On to conquer 2012 then!
