Christmas in Stratford

Our first Christmas abroad.

 

                         The streets and shops in Stratford are all decked out, it's so lovely!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stratford Sweet Shop--the boys' favourite.

 

 

A family playing Christmas carols for charity.

 

Ben got nuzzled by a reindeer. This isn't surprising -- he's our animal lover.

 

 

These candles remind me of Newfoundland.

 

 

Embarrassing to say, but we have been consuming MANY mince pies. It seems that they are served at every social function in December. Apparently Brits consume 70 million mince pies at Christmas. I have yet to try them with brandy sauce... that will be tommorrow's treat.

 

Speaking of Chrismas dinner, we decided that since it will be "just us" this year, we will have a menu made up of 1 choice of each family member. Will be an interesting combo:

 

Levi's request: toutons

Ben's request: chicken kiev

Daniel's request: smoked salmon

Ken's request: roasted potatoes

Nancy's request: a Christmas cake from Marks and Spencer

 

Yesterday we had a little celebration with our friends the Dancy's that included a little gift exchange. So lovely, helped us to not miss all the folks at home quite so much.

 

 

Ken was so pleased with his Shakespeare cookie. "I will never eat this!" he declared.

                                                      Christmas Eve game of "500".

 

Our little tree:

 

 

 

 

As I write this at 11:15pm, I can hear the church bells pealing from Holy Trinity as a prelude to the Christmas eve service. We love that church, especially the advent services this month. Earlier today:

 

 

 

 

Peace, love, light and joy to you this Christmas.

 

 

Evergreenery

It's still so green here. Everywhere! Makes a nice change from white, just for 1 winter.

When I think about "evergreens" I think of coniferous trees like the spruce, juniper and pine that surround me in Newfoundland. It's been fun to notice all the other kinds that there are. I guess everything else that still might be green is bundled in burlap to survive our 16 feet of snowfall.

Some of the greenery:

There are these giant cedars and pines by our house, that give off a gorgeous scent when it rains.

I don't know what this one is called but I notice its knarly trunk whenever I pass by.

Large, glossy leaves... no idea what it is either, but so pretty.

Hedges (boxwood?):

Lots of flowers, too. Recognize these?

"Winter Pansies" was what the sign at the store said. Bit of an oxymoron to a Canadian!

Another little lovely that we plant in the spring:

Holly!

Some find the moss that grows everywhere pesky, but I love its green hue creeping along the bricks, a bit naughty-like.

And a pretty little "falsie" seen quite often:

Usually I try to make a wreath for our front door at Christmas, but some years I've been too busy. With all this abundant greenery, and a tight budget, I thought (shhhh!) a little pruning might be in order.

But no need because low and behold, there was a dumpster in a park with some legitimate prunings:

Home they go in my basket.

Then the fun starts!

Final products:

Happy Christmas!

Paris

 

 

 

Paris! After an almost sleepless night on the bus and the ferry, Paris! It IS all it's cracked up to be.

Ooh la la!

 

The Eiffel Tower was the first order of business as far as the boys were concerned.

 

 

 

 

It's beautiful underneath, too. Lots of filigreed metal and curving lines.





We stayed in a lovely apartment in an area called Montmartre in the north part of the city. Very gritty, artsy, multicultural, and alive. To the left is a view of the courtyard from the apt. window.








But it doesn't really matter where  you stay in Paris because the Metro is so good and cheap. You can get pretty well anywhere quickly.




What else is great about Paris? The FOOD! Oh my, Parisians know how to eat well, live well. Every morning for breakfast we had fresh croissants or baquettes, topped with fresh brie or camembert. Yum. And below is just one of the delicious meals we had at a creperie in our neighbourhood.

 

And then there's the sightseeing. Everywhere you walk there is something beautiful to see, especially on the banks of the Seine, which flows through the heart of Paris.

 

 

 

 

Some things, like the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs d'Elysees, you pretty much have to see. It was worth it.

 

 

 

One of the most impressive features of Paris was the celebration or prioritizing of public spaces. So many public parks, wide boulevards and squares. There were many grand buildings and monuments, but the spaces themselves were grand....

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of kids' stuff at the parks as well.

 

 

 

 

Public trampolines!

 

The boys had fun playing tag around  and through these hedges with little tunnels inside them.

 

And of course, the art, oh my, the art everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 Speaking of "must see" we of course went to the Louvre, with it famous glass pyramid entrance. The line-up to get in was huge, but a sudden hailstorm caused the "wimps" to run for cover and helped the line move a lot faster.

 

The Louvre is HUGE -- there is far too much to see for one day. In fact, it's been calculated that it would take about 9 months of daily viewing to see everything in the museum. Here are just a couple of the famous iconic works we saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe the most ridiculous thing is the swarm of 'paparazzi' hovering in front of this famous (perhaps overrated) lady.

 

 

 

 

In some ways, the Pompidou Museum -- focused on Modern and Contemporary art -- is an even better experience.

 

 

Other amazing landmarks are Paris's churches. We walked uphill through Montmartre to Sacre Coeur, from which there is a spectacular view of Paris.

 

Later the same day, we went to Notre Dame, perhaps the world's most famous cathedral. We didn't see any hunchbacks, but we definitely saw exquisite stained glass and some scary-looking gargoyles.

Au revoir, Paris. Nous vous aimons. Jusqu'à la prochaine fois!