Christmas Eve and my last day in Vichy
Friday
I got up Friday morning early enough to run down to the bakery and buy a croissant for Alex and a baguette for my class. I asked Alex to bring some vegemite and for my last day I wanted to treat them to an Australian delicacy. Our morning class was a mix of Christmas sayings and words and some traditional carols. We had vegemite during our break (which everybody surprisingly liked) and I said my goodbyes to the class.
I got up Friday morning early enough to run down to the bakery and buy a croissant for Alex and a baguette for my class. I asked Alex to bring some vegemite and for my last day I wanted to treat them to an Australian delicacy. Our morning class was a mix of Christmas sayings and words and some traditional carols. We had vegemite during our break (which everybody surprisingly liked) and I said my goodbyes to the class.
I met Alex outside the school and we walked to a tea house to have some lunch. I ordered in French and Alex and I enjoyed hot chocolates and baguettes for lunch. After lunch we walked to the Grande Marche to buy some cheese, bread and a bûche noel for Christmas Eve. We shopped and bought some expensive lollies on our way back to the room where we got ready for drinks at Niveks place to say yet another farewell. After cheese, wine and bread Alex and I went to the local church Christmas service for a while. It was lovely to see the old church packed full of people but it was so crowded! We tried to find somewhere open for dinner but, after no luck, we went back to the hotel room to eat more cheese and bread and watched the Christmas programs on French television. It turned out to be a very quiet, cosy Christmas Eve.
White Christmas!
Saturday
We woke Christmas day to beaucoup beaucoup de neige!!! It was awesome to have a white Christmas in France and Alex and I took many pretty photos from our hotel window. We went downstairs for petit-dejeuner and, unfortunately for the hotel restaurant, it wasn’t at all petit! As we ate our big breakfast we watched the snow build up in the street and started to wonder just how we were going to get our bags to the train station. In the end we decided to catch a taxi. In now time at all we jumped off the train and landed in Paris. After negotiating our way through the metro system we clambered up onto the street. By the time I had opened the map an old French woman had Alex by the hand and was asking him where he wanted to go. (If only every metro station had a resident old women out the front!) She directed us, in French, to our hotel and we checked into our first Parisian hotel.
We woke Christmas day to beaucoup beaucoup de neige!!! It was awesome to have a white Christmas in France and Alex and I took many pretty photos from our hotel window. We went downstairs for petit-dejeuner and, unfortunately for the hotel restaurant, it wasn’t at all petit! As we ate our big breakfast we watched the snow build up in the street and started to wonder just how we were going to get our bags to the train station. In the end we decided to catch a taxi. In now time at all we jumped off the train and landed in Paris. After negotiating our way through the metro system we clambered up onto the street. By the time I had opened the map an old French woman had Alex by the hand and was asking him where he wanted to go. (If only every metro station had a resident old women out the front!) She directed us, in French, to our hotel and we checked into our first Parisian hotel.
Alex had organised with his cousin Tori to go and have some Christmas drinks with them because they lived in Paris. So after quick showers we were back on the metro heading towards Alex’s cousins in-laws place, a bottle of French Champagne in hand. We arrived and were warmly welcomed by Tori, Vincent (her French husband) and his French parents (who spoke a little English). Their house was beautiful and we ate cheese, pate, salad, vegies and little sausages (well I didn’t…) We also drank, which is where the adventures began. After two bottles of champagne and three bottles of red we were all relatively toasty and Vincent’s parents joined us so I got to practice my French with some real Parisians. They either understood me or cleverly and politely pretended to, either way we had the most amazing Christmas day thanks to them. After a very warm and thankful farewell on my part (I think the wine played a large part in this final exchange) we made our way back to our hotel, and crashed straight away; our first full day in Paris was to begin with a bike ride, oh my!
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