Yes, I Live in a Christmas Village

(written the week after Thanksgiving, slightly out of date...)

For almost as long as I can remember, I helped my Grandma set up her "Dicken's Village" at Christmas.  For those of you not aware, Dicken's are a set of elaborate miniature houses and buildings the likes of what many suburban mothers put up to form a Christmas village under the tree, in a windowsill, or up on a bookshelf, just more expensive.  There are houses and shops of all shapes and sizes, figurines selling everything from pheasants to flowers, horse-drawn carts (quite unlike Senegalese charettes), iceskaters and small children, a plethora of tree varieties, snow-covered stone paths and walls, and anything else you can think of to convey the imagery of a small English town at Christmastime (or London, around the time of Charles Dickens).

One of the towers and the
"curiosity shop"

I spent many afternoons during the early Christmas season helping my Grandma create elaborate country, town, and city scenes with her figurines.  We used seran wrap to create streams under bridges, styrofoam to add height and dimensions, and cotton to look like freshly fallen snow.  I remember my sister and I occassionally using the figurines like Barbie dolls, creating elaborate stories for them, especially the quaint farm scene (that always had a place at child's eye level underneath Uncle Kenny's coffeetable).  The scenes took up her entire house--on bookshelves, under tables, as center pieces on tables normally reserved for eating--anywhere!  We always had a lot of fun brainstorming where to put pieces and I know she was sad when I got too busy to spend much time on them when I got to high school.

Homes along the river, complete with
stone wall

It's been snowing in Semur on and off for about a week now, and sticking (which means it's cold!).  While out for a "run" this week down by the Armacon River which cuts through town, I suddenly felt transported into the miniature villages of my childhood.  Semur, with it's old Burgundian architecture, flowing river, and snow covered stone walls was suddenly the personification of the Dicken's village (except without all of the Oliver Twist-esque aspects of 19th Century London).  Below are some shots, let me know what you think:

What a classic country lane!

Snow draped rooftops 

Looking up on the church from the river

Ok, so the French winter sky is always really gray, so the pictures aren't as beautiful as I would like, but oh well.

Update: after a week of nonstop rain, the snow is back.  It's still a little gray, but much better than the dreary start to December.  I hope you are all getting in the Holiday spirit, wherever you may be!

"Sur le pont d'Avignon...

on y danse, on y danse. 

Sur le pont d'Avignon,

on y danse tout en ronde."

I'll admit, I'm a pretty terrible francophile.  Sure, I've been speaking French for something like 11 years, spent a summer in Paris, and graduated from college with a Certificate in Translation (meaning that through the litterature heavy AU French Dept I had read several French authors), but I don't actually know that much about France, the different regions, or various current political or cultural figures (historical, sure, covered that in Paris).  While applying to this Assistantship program, I had to ask friends and basically googled the different regions, somewhat randomly choosing rural areas over some of the more industrial or famous parts of the country.  A shame?  Maybe, but I've obviously become more interested in Africa in recent years and Belgium has always held my Western European interests (and Sweden my northern interests).

 I had vaguely heard of Avignon when Monika suggested we visit it during our 5 day weekend in early November, but I couldn't totally place it at first.  A quick Rick Steve's check reminded me it's the city of the French popes and has a famous bridge, but that's about it. 

A look down on old Avignon

Avignon is a very cool city, the old heart of which is held behind the ancient town walls. It is a university town in southern France and a lot edgier than dear old Burgundian Dijon, in part to the interesting mix of cultures that comes from its location closer to the Mediterranean Sea.  I was pleasantly surprised when I kept forgetting I was actually in France and not Italy, between the popes, paintings, and good ol' Roman ruins.  Famous Avignon souvenirs include lavender, soap, fabric, and the multi-purpose Herbes de Provence (which we have learned this year can be used in everything from quiche to squash soup, chili, and Thanksgiving stuffing), none of which I purchased.



Le Pont du Gard



We stayed with some nice German university students and visited such famous sites as the Palais des Papes, Musee de la Petit Palais (sacred art, including a Botticelli), the Pont St Benezet (the famous bridge), the Pont du Gard (old Roman acqueduct you've seen in your high school French books, a bit outside of town), the opera (a first for me!  We saw Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte), and the Roman ampitheater in Orange on the way back.  The biggest let down was that the museums in Avignon are all operated by a private company, meaning we couldn't get in free with our "Pass Education" which allow free entrance into all public museums and monuments (like the Louvre).  Lameness, so we were forced to use our university student IDs get some discounts on entrance.

Part of the Palais des Papes,
but it's too big to get in one
picture.  Cool lighting tho!

While I never learned the famous song as a child growing up (thanks, Mom!), it's famous enough to have been dedicated as a UNESCO World Heritage site solely for it's role in the song (and not for it's architectural success as the bridge has been more than half destroyed by the Rhone River).

In front of the beautiful cathedral
for the Popes

Anyways, it was a good trip and I'm glad we were able to make the most of a 6-day weekend before the cold set in.