Christmas time and Valenciennes Art

Hello everybody!

So, we went to London Saturday before last. We got up at 4:30 and got back at 3:00, both AM. We spent a total of six hours in London, but it was worth it. We got to eat a proper English breakfast on the ferry across the channel and Thai food at a restaurant around the corner from the British museum. Dinner was on the ferry too, but the storm at sea and us circling in wait did not settle well with me (Kade). I spent forty-five minutes breathing heavily and avoiding vomiting. Still worth it. The British Museum has one of the most impressive collections I think I have ever seen. Massive. And Caitlin got to see her childhood curiosity, the bog man, AKA Lindow Man. But six hours simply isn't enough and we'll have to return one day.

This last Saturday, we went to a Christmas dinner party at the home of one of Caitlin's colleagues. My French is definitely coming along, because I at least knew the subjects of conversations pretty consistently and was actually able to comment every so often. We filled up on snack food, nuts and little cheese hors d'oeuvres, and then had to stuff ourselves with the traditional but quite good meal they had prepared. An entrée (appetizer) came out, and we had suspected the worst after having badmouthed the French in the past for eating such things as foie gras, so we were relatively prepared to act enthused. Our strength wavered only slightly when it was revealed that this particular goose liver dish was layered with lingue de boeuf, cow tongue. Mmmm...just like mom used to do. You spread it on spice bread, and it was really rather good. Anything that fatty usually is. From then out, it was just potatoes gratiné and some stewed beef in red wine. A traditional buche de Nöel for dessert. Their two kids at the table were bored out of their minds.

Finally, I just finished a new video project, this one a little more creative than the previous posts. The video is a little washed out because of the YouTube processing, but c'est la vie.