...before I move on to New Year's Eve and the beginnings of this newest year. So much was going on during the month of December that I couldn't keep up. Thankfully, things have slowed up since. But more on that in a blog or two...
Here are a few from the Arte Xmas Party. It was Jean-Philippe's idea to stage it under the big top (or rather, under three of them). His ideas over the past few years have brought a new dimention to Xmas parties for Arte. Frankly, he amazes me still, after all these years: so quiet and unassuming, but with an imagination and a sense of the wonderful that have no bounds.
Here are a couple from a soirée arranged at Eric & Joël's, so that we could all hang out with his brother, sis-in-law, niece and another friend - all from Marseilles and all very swank. It was a great evening, to say the least! In order of appearence: (1) Where's the teddy? (2) Their next album cover (3) Hide 'n' Seek (4) Strangers in the night?
Here are a few from a soirée held at Caroline's place. The best pictures of the night are these four, which is something of a shame, because their other friends that were there are not only too swank, too ("too" = see above, chez Eric & Joël), but are lovely-lookin' ladies and gents. Next time, next time... For this feast, a hunter-friend of Fred's had caught a wild boar, so he roasted the leg he was given and whipped up some spaetzele to our collective delight. It was divine. Then again, Fred's cooking (and Caroline's) is always divine.
Here are the boys on the bikes their Mémé & Pépé gave them for Xmas. They were pros within a half an hour (well... okay, there's still work to do. But they FEEL like pros, and I ain't gonna take that away from them)! Biking is tiring work for beginners, though... Anyway, they now have another obsession to add to the list!
This was a stuffed animal holder that Tomi constructed with giggles and vigour; and the Xmas trees that the boys constructed at school:
Here are some sweet moments at play...
And the lunch crowd, assembled in front of our favourite food & drink stands in the Place Broglie section of the Xmas market:
Here are a couple of photos from 100% Locally Produced meals we had at home in the last days of the year 2006:
And lastly, here are a couple of images from an afternoon we spent at a new café that's opened on Rue Hannong, La Tarte aux Billes. You pay a set sum (6€ for big kids & 4€ for wee ones) and you receive a sweet or savory something to eat, plus a drink to sip - and you can play at any or all of the great games they have on shelves and stacked in corners and on the window sills for as long as you like. The fun stuff for 3/4 year olds is upstairs, so we collected a few big kid games downstairs, then headed up to where all could share in the fun! The muffins were a hit with the boys. So were the play farm and the car-pet (get it? huh? ho!). the big kids played a kind of fruit War and then a couple of rounds of chess. We hadn't played this last in three years! Though I suspect that Jean-Philippe's been honing up behind my back...
