Once Upon a December

Besides the exciting Christmas markets of Strasbourg, the other exciting part of my life in December was that I had two visitors! After Jenna’s study abroad ended in Italy, she came to visit the first week of the month. We had three days in Strasbourg together, and then a day in Paris.

On one of our days in Strasbourg, Jenna got to come with me to the classes I taught and get a glimpse of what French schools are like. We also walked around Barr a little bit and took some pictures since I usually don’t have someone with me to take pictures.

Enjoy me and Jenna modeling the town of Barr. 

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Here's the best bakery in Barr all dressed up for Christmas.

Bonus picture: a pretty door in Barr!

Besides that, we spent a lot of time exploring the Christmas markets. Of course, I also made Jenna take some pictures of me in Strasbourg. Here are three of my favorite places in the city!

I’m saving the Paris trip for a different post, since it’s the best city in the world so I obviously have lots of amazing pictures from it and then this post would be amazingly long.

My next visitor, Olimpia, came a few weeks later. Before that, I did some exploring alone. One day when I had a break between classes, I took the train to Obernai to see the Christmas decorations there. The best part was the nativity scene with real animals! Me (and the children of Obernai) were very entertained by this. I love this pony. So much. 

I was also entertained by the irony of the Christmas market stalls shoved up against the synagogue. 

The decorations were cute too. 

Here’s a little ice-skating rink they set up!

In Strasbourg, I was excited to find this advent wreath in the church of St. Thomas, one I’d never been to before, while I was walking around one Sunday.

I also liked seeing my favorite cathedral decked out for Christmas. The tapestries were a special decoration.

Olimpia visited the weekend before I went home for Christmas. I loved showing her around my city! Of course, we spent a lot of time shopping at the markets. And a lot of time talking, because that’s how we roll. I saw a movie for the first time in France with her, too. Not a French movie, though. Those are usually a little weird, let’s be honest.

We saw Frozen, or la Reine des Neiges en français. We both loved it! We really needed to see a cute happy movie, because the night before we made the mistake of watching a SUPER disturbing Holocaust movie right before going to bed. Bad call. That was right up there with the preying mantis incident (there’s a good story behind that, trust me).

Well, that was pretty much my December...except oh wait...I GOT TO GO HOME! It was amazing. I had a little over two weeks at home, and it was much needed. I loved every second of it! 

As much fun as living in Europe is, I always miss these people a lot.

And this dog :)

And this weather! There hasn’t been any snow in Strasbourg.

And speaking English, and drinking skim milk, and having a TV, and winning at Qwirkle, and... Well, lots of things. But I am happy to get to have four more months in France. I like my job, I like my city, and I like how my future travel plans are looking for these next few months (Vienna? Krakow? Switzerland? Lots of possibilities).