Paris at Christmas

Hello and good morning! It is a great day! I finally have all of my household problems fixed, the heat is on keeping us toasty while the temperatures have gone down to the 30’s and 40’s. And the Internet and TV is back on line, so I can catch up on my work, email, and current events. 

Although it was more than frustrating, it allowed me to get a jump on my baking, I have made sugar cookies, rugulach, snowballs, banana bread, pumpkin bread, and a 3 gallon tin of Amish caramel corn. Today I am making “fairy food”, chocolate salami, and three other cookies that are yet to be determined. 

As I mentioned I have been in Paris for the last week. It is one of my favorite places in the world and I have been traveling there at least once a year since I was a teenager. The last few years we have gone in December and it is magical.

This year the weather was a little of everything, sun, rain, snow and certainly winter cold but it is still my favorite time of the year visit. 

I love the Christmas decorations, the lights, the window decorations, the Christmas markets and the Christmas spirit, add that to the beauty of Paris on any given day and you are in for something special. 

This year my mother, step-daughter and her boyfriend came along for the adventure. My mom has been almost as many times as I but for my step-daughter and her boyfriend it was the first. I think having them along allowed my husband and I to see so many sights with fresh eyes, and wonder. 

We stayed in the same hotel we have stayed the last 19 years and it was like visiting family, the tree already in the small lobby and decorations in your room. A warm and homey place to come back to after a long day out seeing the sights.

I tell you all about the places we went and the things we saw on another day but I will tell you that one of the highlights was the engagement of my step-daughter. Her boyfriend had called a few weeks before to get ask her dad for her hand in marriage and told us a few of his plans, so it wasn’t a surprise for us but is was for her.

 He took her out for the day and they ended on the lock bridge where you go an place a lock with your names or initials and then throw the key into the Seine. 

He had made a lock that was engraved on one side with their initials and on the other it said will you marry me? Then he got down on one knee and gave her a beautiful ring. I wasn’t there so I cannot tell you all of the details but I can tell you that she said yes, they are very happy and the wedding is being planned as I write this. 

I hope that your week is going well and that you have some magical holiday plans for the weekend, perhaps sitting with a mug of cocoa by your tree with a good book and a book, or a baking session, or a party. Whatever you do, be safe, enjoy and revel in the magic of the season. 

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