Battle of the Bands

Sierra did a great job fronting for the "Dead Singers" in the battle of the bands.  They rocked a great version of "Your Song"

been way too long!

Here's a picture of Jim and Elaine on their way out to the Opera... Tristan and Isolde (in German with French subtitles) -- photo by Sierra

We had a wonderful snow while they were here...

The girls were at school, we went out for lunch.  This picture shows the elusive James...

Speaking of the Jones's!

I am very remiss for not posting enough images from our wonderful Thanksgiving spent with our dear friends the Jones's.  Here's a few pictures of the sordid crew.

the girls arrive home after a baguette run

the four children

just before dinner 

Winter Trees

Here's what many of the trees in Lyon look like in the winter...

Thankful for a mild winter this year...

Though the locals complain of an "unusually" cold winter it sure seems pretty mild to me.  Here's a screen grab from a couple of weeks ago.  (not sure it was quite as sunny as it predicted but probably as warm)
Really, the only time it's been cold here was when the Jone's (from Maine) came to visit!

Sienna visits Lyon...

This is a picture from the fall...

Songs in the metro station

Here are a few of the odd songs I've heard in the main public metro station (Place Bellecour)

"Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
"Sex Machine" by James Brown
and "You Sexy Mo**er F***er" by Prince

It's very strange to hear these rather explicit "odes to love" in a big public metro station as your making your way through a massive throng of impeccably dressed, mostly young French people (and yes I'm sure that 99% of the people there understand the English perfectly well)  There's something both kind of surreal and yet relaxed and natural about it.   It makes me smile every time.

Well I did it!

I have managed to post more times in the past month of January than I did the entire first 5 months of being here.  To be honest I don't think anyones really following these posts but at least we'll have it as a souvenir of our adventure.  (if you are following this, my apologies :)

European Magpie

We have a pair (male - female) of European Magpies that are always around in front of our windows.  they're pretty big birds (like a dove or mockingbird) and are really striking.  I have some photos but these I found on the web are better...  Enjoy!

Just an average winter night here looking out the window.

I took this shot tonight around dinner time.  It's Saturday, we watched Lord of the Rings together tonight.  The girls are asleep...

Been here about six moons now...

A week or two ago the moon was full - the moon was just past full when we arrived here in early August.
It's interesting to note that the moon rises further north in the winter - just the opposite of the sun (which makes sense the more you think about it)

vivre la différence

Warm mid day break...

A lunch of fresh oysters by the river on January 15th - French style!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a fabulous new year filled with health, prosperity and wonder.

Winter in Paris...

We had a magical weekend jaunt to Paris for Sierra's birthday.  We went to see the Rodin sculptures in the snow - amazing!

Elaine's "Frickin' Chicken Fricassee" is awesome!
I think she's really enjoying cooking in France with all the great fresh ingredients and culture of cuisine.  Perhaps this has become her signature dish so far though.

Winter Day....

It's a cold, foggy winter day here in Lyon.  (well probably not as cold as it is in Maine)

Happy New Year!

Well it's a new year and I vow to be better at posting more often.  I've decided to take a new approach (encouraged by Kendall) to blogging.  Instead of facing the task of sorting through 300 pictures to post a slide collection of an event like "weekend in Venice" I'm going to just post single random pictures - but much more often.  Let's see how this goes...

Today; here's a picture out our window looking north on Christmas morning 2010.  It was nice to see the snow.