I took some time off from blogging, because I got so busy traveling. Picture me, exhausted after a long day, sitting in a hotel room going “I should really write about everything happened toda…. zzzzz.” I left Lyon all the way back in November, attending Developers Summits in Dubai in Singapore. Then, I flew back to the Boston (via Hong Kong), flew to California for meetings, and then took a roadrip to Las Vegas. A couple of red-eyes later, here I am back in France. I went all the way around the world in 35 days.
Suck it, Jules Verne.
I’d be the happiest girl in the world to be back with my family at anytime, but it’s extra magical to be back with the holidays in full swing. There’s a Christmas market across the street from us and Lilian has been talking about taking me there since they opened in November. I was too exhausted from that 2nd red-eye last night, but look where we went this evening…
The market really is amazing. They have multiple mulled wine (plus hot cider and hot cocoa) options, as well as all sorts of food and snacks. One stall is entirely dedicated to raclette. There are also carts selling roasted chestnuts. The rest of the stalls sell gifts, with a lot of handmade/artisan jewelry and other local crafts. You can definitely find some cheesy, mass-produced junk, but there’s not much of it.
We didn’t have a ton of time tonight, so I didn’t get many photos. We’re planning to go back tomorrow for dinner (there is an entire section of food stalls that we skipped) and take some photos. I really enjoyed letting Lilian show me around. I think it’s so good for her to get a chance to play tourguide. It gives her a real confidence boost!
The trip over wasn’t too bad, but could have been smoother. I paid a little extra for more legroom, but spent the entire flight getting kicked and poked by the guy sitting next to me. He was apparently composed entirely of knees and elbows. He woke me up more than once because he was tapping me over and over with an elbow and I thought that he was poking me with his finger to get my attention.
We were delayed about an hour getting out of Boston, which added some unnecessary drama. I had to book it in Amsterdam to make my connecting flight, and my bags didn’t make it. I had an anxiety-producing 7 minutes where the digital signage said I qualified for the expedited passport line, but the people working at the airport disagreed. They finally let me through, the immigration agent was a lot less worried about all of my paperwork than I was, and I made it to my gate just as they were boarding.
Plus, who cares about all that, because I’m back with my family now!
I was quite pleased with myself for reporting my missing baggage in French. I guess I didn’t mess it up too badly, because they arrived at our apartment tonight.
I’m looking forward to taking some time over the holiday to spend some quality time with Lilian. I’m open to suggestions of things that we should do! She has big plans for holiday baking/cooking. We’ll also spend more time at the holiday market. We were hoping to meet up with some friends in Germany, but the trains all booked up and the hotels all got super expensive. 🙁 I’m thinking maybe we’ll do a couple of day trips, and do some more exploring in the city. If all else fails, I did just bring back half a duffel bag worth of craft supplies.
What are your holiday plans? How would you spend the holiday season in France?
