Strasbourg--Marché de Noël

After several very busy weeks in school with the first trimester grades, written comments, parent/teacher conferences and the famous 'conseil de classe' I was ready for Christmas vacation!  On Sunday, December 19, Roger and I headed north to the beautiful city of Strasbourg and its Christmas Markets.  We enjoyed listening to a superb children's choir in the Strasbourg Cathedral and shopping at all the various stands that make up the many Christmas Markets in the old part of the city center.  Scattered around were many hot-spiced wine stands--perfect on a snowy, cold evening!  We really enjoyed seeing the half-timber architecture in the district called La Petite France along the canal and dining in several of its many great  Alsatian restaurants.  Our third day was spent exploring the delightful, small village of Eguisheim on our way back to the region of Auvergne.

Festival of Lights in Lyon

On December 11 we Fulbright teachers, families and friends all met in Lyon for the annual Festival of Lights.   A group of creative lighting designers enhance the city's monuments, public buildings and contours of two rivers with a dazzling display during four days in December.  Lyon now is one of the world's leading cities in its use of public lighting, so much so that Phillips set up its European head office for exterior lighting in 1996 near the city of Lyon.  The photos represent a colorful fountain and a church seeming to grow green vines all over the facade.