It's Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas...................

You hear that expression about this time of year, but what does it really mean?  If I was sitting in our family room on Greenpointe Drive I'd say it was because of the huge storm they just had in Ottawa that dropped 15 cms.  If Paul and I were back in Paris it would be due to the Christmas lights and Christmas displays along the Champs Elysees.  But alas we are in Ethiopia and there is no snow, no lights and limited Christmas decorations.  So we decided to do our part to add some Christmas spirit to our Addis home.

Our Addis Christmas Tree

Lexxie: The Christmas Tree Elf Guard

Outside the sun is shining and there is a cool breeze that causes our "Christmas" tree to gently sway.  Lexxie is standing guard against birds that seem interested in pecking at our decorative balls.

As you approach the house the front door is sporting a Christmas wreath we purchased at the German Bazaar. We also added a few coloured red balls we had purchased in Paris to give it that "je ne sais pas" look.  It still has a lingering pine smell, despite the fact that each day we see evidence of droppings.

Paul tied a nice bow

Welcome All

While in Paris we visited a store called  L'Habitat.  This store had so many novel decorations and we wanted to buy everything except for the small problem of transporting it all home to Addis.  We settled on a candle centrepiece for our coffee table, a small white, pre-lit Christmas tree, white and coloured tea light candles, silver tea light holders, white tree-shaped candle holders, a string of cranberries and a box of red balls. We were limited by luggage space, but we were pleased with our selections.  At the German bazaar besides the wreath we also bought wooden ornaments that we hoped would go nicely on our white Christmas tree.  At the NGO Bazaar we picked up hand made pottery Christmas tree shaped tea light holders and 2 Ethiopian cotton table runners.   We then went to our local grocery store, Fantu and purchased a small, pre-lit green Christmas tree.  Add to that 4 stockings we purchased from Mary (CIDA) in support of a local charity and our house is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

We decorated our front foyer table with white candle holders shaped like trees and  for a splash of color draped them with a string of cranberries.  The candle centrepiece sits on our living room coffee table on top of an Ethiopian cotton runner.  We placed our white Paris tree, decorated with wooden decorations and surrounded by silver tea light holders a top a table cloth purchased at a shop close to Notre Dame Catheral.  We placed our more traditional tree adjacent to the dining room table so we can enjoy it when we are eating,  We decorated the table it sits on with another Ethiopian cotton runner and hung our Christmas stockings.  The silver Christmas tree tea lights are sitting on our dining room hutch amid pictures of our children.

Our House Elf photo bombs another pic!

Christmas view

Pre-lit Tree..................looks better at night.

Candle display

The stockings were hung with care

Hold still Lexxie Elf.

The real treasures are in the background.

At night when Paul and I sit in the living room, discussing our day we are pleased with the overall effect of our Christmas decor. BUT as we all know Christmas is more than just putting up lights and decorating a tree. It's more than turkey and stuffing and it goes way beyond what presents you receive.  It really takes being 7000 miles from home to appreciate the true spirit of Christmas.  Christmas is about family.  Every year Paul and I love to host Christmas at our home in Ottawa.  Obviously that's not going to happen this year.  But what the last 5 months has taught me is how to adjust, adapt and cope with my new reality.   There will be no snow outside this Christmas, no turkey on the table nor a ridiculous number of presents under the tree, but what we will have is family travelling 7000 miles to share with us in our TIA Christmas.

We will welcome Johanna (JoJo) December 23rd,  Aleysha, Daylan and Jennifer December 25th, Allison December 28th and Wayne December 29th.  Christmas isn't just one day and through the staggered arrivals of our guests, the Christmas season will prevail.  We are eagerly looking forward to everyone's arrival.  We consider ourselves very fortunate. Although this posting has taken us far from home, we are gradually making a home here and it's working out for us!  After all, Christmas shared with family is really what it's all about, regardless of where you celebrate it.

To our family and friends back home, Paul and I wish all the best during this Christmas Season and a happy and healthy New Year.  We miss being there, but in spirit we've never really left.

City of Lights: Paris

Paris is known as the City of Lights, but seeing Paris decked out in all its Christmas splendour truly confirms that statement.

The domed ceiling of Galleries Lafayette

Roue de Paris in Place Concorde

Lights along the Champs Elysees

Arc de Triomphe at the bottom of Champs Elysees

Our trip began at 11:55 pm December 4/13 when our Ethiopian Air flight took off for our 3 day get away.  I don't know what's in the water here in Ethiopia (actually I do which is why we don't drink it!), but I've caught the travel bug.  In October I flew to the UK for a 3 week visit to see Allison.  The decision to fly to Paris for the weekend was far more frivolous.  Paul and I wanted a weekend away so why not fly 7.5 hrs to one of the most romantic cities in the World?  Why not indeed!

We arrived in Paris in the early morning, but surprisingly because we were able to catch a few zzz's on board we arrived relatively well rested.  I had read up a bit on the transportation system before coming so we knew to look for the RER Train to Paris.  The signage in Charles de Gaulle Airport was completely accurate to the Internet's pictorial instructions (gotta love the Internet) so we just followed the signs and eventually found the train.  What a wonderful concept to have connections to air and ground transportation.  Ottawa could really take a page from the transportation systems of both Paris and London.  We picked up a map of the train and metro system (indispensable!!) and we were set to go. After 3 full days of riding the Metro, I must say Paul and I were feeling pretty comfortable with the whole public transportation system. Nous sommes Parisiennes.

Our hotel was located around the corner from a Metro station (Ternes).  We arrived there around 8:30 am and staff there could not of been more helpful.  Although our room was not ready, they kept our luggage and even offered us breakfast.  We asked if any of the restaurants in the area would be open for breakfast.  At that early hour (Paris seems to open later) the only ones available were Starbucks and McDonalds.  OF course I was more than willing to go to Mickey D's, but Paul was less than impressed. We decided to just walk around our neighbourhood and see if we saw anything interesting.  We walked up the street, took a turn and we were facing Arc de Triomphe.  I've been to Paris twice, but even seeing it a third time, sights like this never cease to impress and amaze me. Simply wow!

You can walk through it and as well go to the top for amazing view of  Paris

Arc de Triomphe sits in the middle of a huge round about as traffic approaches from all sides

The Arc was just as magnificent as I remembered, but by now our our stomachs were starting to grumble. Not enough of course to stop at McDonalds (I tell you they were everywhere), but we did find a quaint cafe that was serving breakfast.  Okay, so it was a good call on Paul's part as the omelet was delicious, the juice fresh, the cafe au lait hot and the croissant basically melted in your mouth.  Since coming to Ethiopia we have not eaten a lot of bread because the bread is pretty dry and tasteless.  Paul says it has something to do with the wheat they use.  All I know is being in Paris meant croissants and baguettes and during our stay we thoroughly enjoyed them.  With all the walking we did we weren't too concerned about the extra carbs.

After eating breakfast we walked over to the start of the Champs Elysees and trekked all the way to Place Concorde. Like I said, we did a lot of walking during our visit.  Champs Elysees is a wide 8 lane boulevard and the wide sidewalks help with the large volumes of pedestrian traffic.  It's home to some very exclusive stores (Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Hugo Boss, Rolex) and as well car dealerships (Citroen, Audi, Mercedes and BMW).  All the store fronts are so impressive and kind of intimidating.  The street just reeks of money!! Lots of the stores have doormen.  I guess as a store if you're on Champs Elysees you have arrived!!

Collection we didn't bother to explore

What's wrong with Timex

Nice!

And nice again.

Impressive storefront

Huge building that occupies a complete corner on Champs Elysees

MY kind of store!

Convenience in a cone!

Paul's next calling?

Even the taxis are high end

After this walk we headed back to our hotel to check in.  Once we were squared away and we had perused the brochures in the lobby we settled on a Foxity City Bus Tour.  We reasoned that the bus would give us a lay of the land, but more importantly allow us to save our tired legs.

It was a wise decision because our next two days were hectic, fun-filled days spent exploring and enjoying the sights of Paris.  We bought a Metro pass and were pretty pleased with our growing ability to navigate Paris's very extensive Metro system.

When in Paris there are some mandatory to do's and Paul and I, despite the short time frame, managed to fit most of it in.

The Louvre is huge and it would take days to examine everything. The more than 35,000 art objects are housed in the Louvre Palace, the world's largest museum. We spent almost 3 hours and we were starting to experience extreme art-lag (jet lag for art galleries). You can only take in so much before you become too overwhelmed. The Louvre is a central landmark of Paris located along the Right Bank of the Seine. The Louvre Palace forms a  rectangle and in the middle of the courtyard a glass pyramid was erected. Below the pyramid is the entrance lobby. You reach the lobby by taking a two escalators and at the bottom you stand in the middle and decide which wing (Sully, Richelieu or Denon) you wish to explore.  We chose Denon as that is where the La Joconde (Mona Lisa), can be found.  Along the way we discovered more masters and sculptures.  It was wonderful.

The Louvre Palace and Pyramid

Car access to the Louvre

Same car entrance, different angle

Pedestrian entrance cuts through one of the wings of the Louvre

Standing in the Louvre courtyard facing the Richelieu wing

Denon wing where you'll find the ladies:  Mona Lisa & Venus de Milo

The Pyramid is where you enter to descend to the lobby below

Windy day: there goes the hair!

We were really there!

Corridors seem to stretch for miles. Ask my feet!

Paul's Mona Lisa smile.

Replica of the Parthenon in Greece.  We'll see the REAL thing in May 2014

After leaving the Louvre, we found a small restaurant that was almost like a deli, long and narrow and quite crowded. After we were seated they had to turn away a few hopeful patrons.  This kind of popularity is always a good sign. We weren't disappointed.  In fact there wasn't a restaurant that we ate at that we didn't enjoy.  Paris serves up excellent International cuisine. We enjoyed Italian and Thai and our Continental breakfasts gave us ample selections of fresh fruit, yogurt, croissants, baguettes, cheese and cold cuts.

After lunch we were back on the Metro to go and see Notre-Dame Cathedral.  There was a long line up to enter, but given the size of the Cathedral the line moves quickly.  It wasn't long before we were inside. Spectacular!  Hard to believe this Cathedral is 850 years old.

Looks pretty good considering Notre-Dame Cathedral is 850 years old.

Long way up!

Taken from the back of the church.

Closer view of the alter

Stain glassed windows run down both sides of Notre-Dame.

Our day was almost complete, but we had one more stop before returning to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  Galleries Lafayette is a super upscale department store.  It occupies a complete street corner and is 6 stories high.  It's well worth seeing because of it's architecture and it's domed stain glassed ceiling.  Their display windows were all decked out with creative 3-D Christmas displays; a visual and very inventive delight. Galleries Lafayette gives merit to the expression "window shopping" because that was all we could afford to do.  A bit too high-end for us!

View of the dome  and intricate woodwork defining each level.

The moving display around the tree reaching 6 stories high

We left Galleries Lafayette, hopped back on the Metro and headed for Place Concorde.  We wanted to see the market along Champs Elysees at night.  The Christmas Market (open November and December) is a series of kiosks that line the sides of Champs Elysees from Place Concorde to just before Grand Palais.  Artisans were out in full force selling anything from blown glass figurines, jewellery, scarves, hats to pottery dishes.  Many of the kiosks sold food including crepes with every imaginable toppings, including a very popular flavor: nutella. (Al and Jenn you would have been in heaven) We were tempted to try the "hot wine", but we never got around to it.  The sidewalks which are very wide were just packed with people.  The temperature in Paris was around 10 degrees and though somewhat windy it was still a lovely evening to stroll down Champs Elysees.

One of the many displays in the Champs Elysees Christmas Market

Santa soars overhead as he tunes up the sled for his big night.

The Obelisk in forefront of  Place Concorde and La Tour Eiffel in the background

Government Buildings that surround Place Concorde all lit up for Christmas

Eiffel Tower shines brightly

View down Champs ELysees

Great! EVERYONE had the same idea as Paul and me. A quiet stroll down Champs Elysees

On our next day in Paris we moved over to the left bank of the Seine and went to Musee D'Orsay, home of the largest collection of  impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world.   Be prepared to be overwhelmed by painters including Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gaugin, Van Gogh and of course Degas!  For those who know me, Musee D'Orsay had me at Degas.  We wondered about for a few hours as we soaked in these masterpieces.  After leaving the world of art we walked along the Seine.  It felt so good to be in the fresh air breathing in the sights and sounds of Paris daily life.

Our trip would not be complete without a closer inpection of La Tour Eiffel.  The Eiffel Tower was always visible in the background as we toured Paris, but when we were actually standing directly in front of it, it's amazing how big and imposing it actually is.  It stands 1063 feet tall and was erected in 1889 for the 1889 World's Fair.  It was supposed to have been a temporary structure for the World's Fair, but now it stands as the global icon of France and is likely one of the most recognisable structures in the world.

The Seine

Bridges linking the right and left banks of the Seine

This needs no introduction!

Paul on the other side of the lens

View from the Seine

Paris, La Tour Eiffel and Us!

So that concludes our three very full days in Paris. The pictures we took and all the memories we formed will be with us for a long time.   It sure didn't take long to fall in love with this amazing city. Jusqu'à la prochaine fois; à bientôt!!