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| Cathedral in Auxerre - by moonlight. Nice job, Matt! |
Christmas in France with my son was a great plan. What a nice break from a busy December at the Koda Community Education Center. We wrote a big proposal for a cross border cultural initiative with Azerbaijan. It was a great experience. And our social enterprise - Art Koda - had many successful Christmas shows. But more about that later. Georgia doesn't celebrate much in December, except for the ex-pats. Their big celebration is New Years, then Orthodox Christmas on January 7th, so it was a great time to escape to France to visit Matt.
Matt finished up for his semester abroad at IAU in the Aix en Provence business program so I flew into Marseille to meet him. We spent 2 nights at his host mom's home in Aix, driving over to Marseille to eat the best seafood at a highly recommended restaurant, Toin. Aix is a lovely, cozy, college like town and a good landing for a semester abroad. Matt studied French, media in conflict with a famous journalist, International Business, and photography. Then we drove to Paris, by way of St. Etienne, Lyon, Auxerre, and Versailles. Here are just some of the highlights.
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| my first non-Georgian restaurant...in a LONG time |
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| Just looks like a nice college town, eh? |
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| Our Lady of the Guard Basilica |
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| Marseille old port from basilica, highest point in Marseille |
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Avignon
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| The short cut to Roman theatre of Orange - built in early 1st C. AD |
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| Auxerre old town - beautiful at Christmastime, and a nice resting spot |
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| Had a wonderful time with our Servas friends near Lyon. And a REAL french meal. The most relaxing and interesting time of our entire trip. Great food, new and different drinks, local cheese, interesting conversation,wonderful hosts. What more can I say? |
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| St. Etienne, So great to stay in a real french home, and meet such wonderul, helpful folks. THANKS! |
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| Off the highway - wind power and nuclear power plants too. |
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| Lyon - rainy, but the shops were still wonderful |
On to Versailles. Matt was anxious to spend enough time there, and I wanted to see what the town was like as more than a day trip from Paris. Our Airbnb was fabulous, with a lovely host. I love seeing what the locals prioritize - like fresh squeezed orange juice, good jams, coffee in your room... It was a fun, and easy time. Gardens, even in the winter, were beautiful.
Turned in the car for a fast train and we were on to our airbnb in Montmartre.
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| The D'orsay had a special exhibit of female photographers. This is one of my favorite photographs. I saw it in Elton John's collection in Atlanta once. Funny juxtaposition of Impressionists and American Depression photographs. Still amazingly poignant. |
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| I forgot how much I liked this lesser known Monet, with its heavy brushstrokes |
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| Just time to see the Rodin garden. Good excuse to return. |
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| Mass on Christmas at Notre Dame, of course. Only difference was the policeman that processed in behind the Arch- Bishop. |
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| Magnificent as always |
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| Matt had to tell me about the bridge of locks. |
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| Left bank was a ghost town on Christmas day, but Luxembourg gardens, and palace, the first Jeu de Paume if you will, was still bustling. |
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| On business trips with IBM I often hung out here in the evenings, on the square just west of Sacre Coeur. Loved it then, love it now. |
I was so pleased Matt could join me for Christmas and his first trip to Paris. We missed Amanda, but glad to hear she had a fabulous Christmas skiing. Then, exciting trip to our homes. Matt to tornadoes in Dallas which delayed his return to Colorado. I flew through Istanbul for the night, then back to Koda. Good to be back in Georgia... for another six months.
Here are a few random parting shots from the airports.
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| I have definitely become integrated. Now this makes perfect sense to me. Squatting is better for your bodily functions, exercises the thighs, and more sanitary. Of course! |
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| One for men too. It's to wash hands, face, nose, ears and feet, before you pray |
