Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was an interesting event here. I was determined to celebrate it on the actual day. Many ex-pats celebrate on Saturday since Thursday is business as usual. We invited some friends to come over for a quasi-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I made two stuffed chicken in lieu of turkey. Turkey is pretty expensive, and thankfully the chicken and stuffing turned out great. The stuffing tasted just like my Mom's. I had to make my own poultry seasoning. Thankfully Jill, the mom of the girls I babysit offered up her spices. It worked out well! I kept smelling it to make sure it smelled right...I must have looked ridiculous. I also made sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, and spiced apples. My gravy, made from scratch, was a particular success. We didn't have a gravy boat, instead we had a gravy pitcher! We dream on a budget! Thanks to Slingbox, we were able to watch the Thanksgiving parade while eating some French canapes. Joe bought some Budweiser, the only distinctly "American" beer here, in honor of my Mom. It was my first Thanksgiving away from home and it was wonderful!

Lyon

Ronny and Brad on a very steep street in Lyon. You can tell it's old from the cobblestones.

Ancient theater dating to 15 BC.

The view from the Basilica.

The Basilica Notre Dame de Fouviere.

Brad Visits...Way Overdue

Blogger audience. November has escaped me. Last month I was in a bit of a funk and my blogging suffered. One of the best things to happen in November was a visit by my oldest friend Brad. We had such a great time! We went to Annecy, Lyon, and all around Geneva. Brad, always the comic, gave a thumbs up in all the pictures he took. He said he wanted it to look like he was photo-shopped into the picture. Ridiculous! Lyon was my favorite trip, although the ride home was scary. Highways in France do not have reflectors on the road. It was incredibly dark, raining, there was fog, and we were driving in mountains. Ronny was more than a little stressed during this drive. Still, Lyon is an awesome city. I would liken it to a small Paris. The Bascillica is amazing!! It was so great spending time with Brad. He couldn't believe he was in Europe and neither could I! Brad also got a mini-tour of CERN. He really had no idea what to expect. He thought the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) was much much smaller than it actually is. He also thought is was called the Large Halogen Collider:). I think CERN surprised him. I'll write more about CERN in the next posting...big things have happened!