"tu as minci" she tells me

to be honest, that will really make your day--and give you full justification to eat a few extra truffes and figues and bouches de noel!

tonite kareoke replaced christmas carols at a french dinner party. i busted out the song below called "the crowd" annnd the star spangled banner. ca me faisait quelque chose honestly. proud to be an american i guess.

we also danced the "macarena" if you can believe it, i couldn't. the "young'ins" showed me and us what "techno music" is and how to dance to it. a song, "who let the FROG out" was played. yuck yuck yuck...oh france. the family's middle daughter, a ballerina, put on her point shoes and, yes, performed for us.

in other news, a gal who has never liked wine suddenly finds herself able to guzzle down all the french wines she's (i've) tasted so far. pastis, not so much...cabernet d'anjou...oui so much.

apparently a popular christmas decoration here is a santa that you hang outside your window so it looks like he is barely holding on and about to fall. they are everywhere and, to be honest, it stresses me out. yes sure, it's very "jack bauer" and exciting...but i feel the urge to run from window to window, ready to catch the ol man in case he falls.

i have sung we wish you a merry christmas in all of my classes, santa claus is coming to town and i'm dreaming of a white christmas...

istres is decked out in glittery lights and jocelyne has helped me plan a christmas menu. escargot (they have them all ready to go at the grocery store, just heat for 10 minutes!), potatoes but i don't think i will do foie gras. poor ducks. ben and i have plans to make one mean meatloaf for jocelyne. i am considering egg nog...but if not, for sure hot cocoa...i hope with candy canes, if i can find them. today i realized there are no candy canes to be found here! eeek!

the other night i wandered the "chemin des creches," where everyone in the old town puts up their nativity scenes in their windows. it's a very intimate thing actually. you are literally going from apartment to aparment, looking into people's windows. no, it's not uncommon to make eye contact with the people inside. the church bell started ringing...echoing off the buildings...

marriage proposal #1 en france

today at the market, a guy called out to me:

"mademoiselle, vous voulez vous marrier avec un fromagier?"

(miss--do you want to marry a cheese maker?)

....how could i refuse??? i love brie.

i'll let you know when the date is.