holly, ivy, mistletoe, and the gently falling snow

Happy Thanksgiving, tout le monde. Tonight instead of turkey and pumpkin pie, I am going to a Green Day movie-concert (a movie of their Munich concert). It should be interesting at least and I don't have school tomorrow so that's a plus. This weekend I plan to go through and clean my apartment. I'm also writing Christmas cards (French ones!) to send to interested parties back home. I just figured it'd be neat to send out cards from La Rochelle this year. I already have list of people who will be receiving one; if you want a card, and aren't sure whether or not I've got one with your name on it, email me your address and ye shall receive!

I'm in the middle of beginning my Christmas shopping. It always takes me a long time to pick things out (perfectionist that I am) but I've got at least half done so far. The rest I'm going to wait until after the start of the Christmas market so I see if there's anything worth getting. The giant square a few blocks from where I live is in the middle of construction. Two dozen or so little wooden houses are being built to act as the stalls for the market. Christmas markets are awesome and I've yet to find a city in Europe that doesn't have one. I adore this season in France. All the streets and alleyways in town have been strung up with lights and greenery, lights buried in the trees and hanging down across the old city gate beneath the clock-tower. They haven't been lit up yet (still November after all). When they do, I'll have to drag myself outdoors in the cold night air and take pictures with my phone.

Last weekend, I went out to dinner with a friend, and couldn't resist taking a picture of my crème brulée dessert.

I bring to you also the dessert from last weekend that has replaced the mille feuille aux fraises as my favorite. It's still a mille feuille, but it's praline flavored. Mmmmm.

Tonight I treated myself (in absence of pumpkin pie) to a pastry à la framboise. Light with just enough tart.

(Yes, you can see my sewing kit in the background. I've had to reattach several buttons on my coat. I'm really not good at it, hence having to do it over already.)