Final Preparations

French Fact-of-the-Day

Clovis King of France

 466 AD - 511 AD

King Clovis being baptized a

Christian with a Battle Ax in hand

Clovis was a Frankish king who became a Christian as seen above and drove out the last of the Romans from France. He thus united the people and gave the country its Germanic name.

Today was my last Thursday meeting of the AVF club before returning to Camarillo in only six days!

The Ladies from the Netherlands

prepared the days goodies for

today's Feast of St. Nicholas 

For once, I wasn't the only male at the meeting.

A wonderful Christmas Story

was read that warmed all of us,

young and old 

Amazingly, I didn't eat any 

The kids got presents after

the Christmas Story 

A Dutch tradition in case any

hungry reindeer drop by

They didn't.

New Reflecting Old 

I believe that this will

be part of the weekends

Fête des Lumières

I know that this will definitely

be lit up for four nights 

Christmas Shopping continues

I didn't make any purchases here but I think that this wee, basement shop will be on the top of Laurie's must see list when she comes to Lyon this Spring.

Oh, So Good For Me

Great aromas and an appetite make great bedfellows.

Tartiflette and Diots 

Damn!

I did finish all of my Christmas shopping today . . . I think.

On Monday, I'm taking the train to northern France to the city of Strasbourg to visit their world renowned Christmas Market.

Who knows what treasures await me.

Required Reading

I am currently about 100 pages into Victor Hugo's 1862 classic, Les Misérables.

Now, I've seen the movie versions of his book and have enjoyed the Broadway hit musical adaptation more than once. All of these experiences were quite enjoyable I must say.

Reading the beginning of Hugo's work should be required reading for everyone in America after this Fall's contentious Presidential elections. Even though the work is 150 years old, the message is as strong and clear today as it was then.

The sad part is that the message still needs airing five generations later.

We hold our last Senior team practice before playing the high-flying, 3-0 St-Cergues Bulldogs at home on Sunday.

We need a good one!