Brrr ...

Bonjour from a very chilly Angers! It's been below freezing for the last few days ... but no snow, unfortunately. At the beginning of last week, we had rain, and then the cold moved in but at least it's been sunny.

So this means that it's beginning to feel like Christmas around here! I've been working on my Christmas shopping (and creating), but we don't have a tree up yet. The French like their Christmas trees short and thin on the top. I think we're going to get a little one, and borrow some decorations from Philipp's family, so I'll be sure to post a picture.

On Saturday night, Philipp and I headed downtown to check out the Christmas market and have dinner. I was pleasantly surprised that afternoon, when he asked if he could take me out to dinner (a rare occurrence ... it's so expensive in France!). I suggested that instead of walking to one of the two Chinese places on our street, we could go downtown (we'd talked about going to the market at some point) and then checking out the Thai / Indian place I'd recently discovered with a friend.

Well, we got in the car at 7:55, and Philipp was on the phone with his brother Antoine, who casually mentioned that the stalls at the market close at 8:00. (darn it!) So we arrived downtown, found a parking place (a Christmas miracle!) and walked into the town square just as they were closing everything up. As Philipp says ... "Too bad!" Still, the lights were very pretty.

This is the theater and the merry-go-round they put up just for the holidays:

And you know this guy:

So we were about 10 minutes early for our dinner reservation, seeing as there was very little left to see in the market, but they took us, anyway. We ate at Thai l'Inde, a nice restaurant in the center of town. It's got a very peaceful atmosphere, and the food is delicious! One thing I like about France is that we often order a menu (combination meal) that includes several courses. Philipp and I both had the egg rolls as an appetizer (in France, you wrap each one in a lettuce leaf with fresh mint leaves and dip it in a sauce ... yum!). As a main course, he had the beef (spicy!) and I had the chicken (only a little spicy), both in creamy sauces. Then, for dessert, we both had the Kala Jamun ... a warm pastry with delicate rose flavor in the bottom of a dish, with the most amazing French vanilla ice cream on top. It is amazing!! We went home full and happy. :)