Christmas markets

Hellloooo

So I hope people are still reading this haha, even though I ve gotten a little terrible about updating. Sorry, its been insane.

Today I went to a Marche de Noel, a christmas market! Its on the Champs-Elysees (haha yea, i know) and il etait plein du monde! Absolutely hectic, and very beautiful, they ve lit up all of the trees from Concord to l'arch de Triumphe. Its not white lights either, but these rather lovely pink/purple ones. There was food (SO MUCH FOOD!) knick knacks and souvenirs. I have to say, there are three other christmas markets in Paris and I want to see those before I make any jugements, but i defin. feel that the inspiration comes from the Weihnachstmarkt in Germany. It was so funny, i kept seeing all of this food and thinking of the christmas markets i went to in Germany. Except in France, they never say its from Germany, instead its from "Alsac" which is the border between france and Germany and which was disputed between the two countries at the end of WWII. So, I still consider it a bit German :P

Which brings me to Chrismas in Paris. The Parisians I talk to have told me that Christmas in Paris is a rather sombre affair. First off, there is not the american madness of October to Jan holidays. Really, only christmas. Its also a family holiday, not a public one.

App. in Paris, the suicide rate jumps up around this time. Because its the end of the year, cold and then the only holiday is a family one and if you ahve no family....well...thats why the metro stops working. You can figure it out people.

This I then contrast to Germany. When I was there, this was my absolutely FAVORITE time there. Everyone is so kind, friendly and happy. Everyone gets together, the christmas markets are very social oriented events. This one I was just at was shopping, it was not meant for visiting with people and that is why I think I like German ones better. They are meant for getting together with friends, eating and chatting, there are entire tents set up to this end. People are not rushed, people are not looking to necessarily spend money either. Here, it was very commercialized. Thats not to say there is no christmas spirit in Paris, rather, that its different and I feel like a lot of what is readily seen is taken from other cultures that celebrate it more readily, like Germany or the States. I don't feel like I ve discovered what is "christmas in Paris" yet, only how other people wish it would be. Which for the French of course, is not appreciated.

Beyond that, this weekend has been musee weekend. Saw Musee d'orsay, Louvre and Grand Palace. All amazing. I love it when you see a piece of art you see on covers of books and in text books and then you just happen accross it just wandering around.

Tonight I m going to Jazz Club. I ve never been to one before, so i hope its fun! I ve heard good things about them though, so we ll see.

back from vaction

Its been crazy here, so I ll try to do some quick summaries.

the weekend of the 17/18 of October, I went to Bruges/Brussels

This past week, I was in Munich, Vienna and Zurich.

I think this blog I m going to focus on Zurich, as it was the most recent. I loove Zurich. It is the MOST expensive city I have EVER been in (Paris is the same, so I can't complain too much) but what makes it glaring, in your face obvious is that everything is in Francs. And the franc is only .02 less than the US dollar. THis is good, you might be thinking, but this is actually where you are tricked. The Franc just makes it even more obvious that the Euro is worth roughly a third more than the dollar is. Add that to the fact that (as I learned) that Switzerland is one of the MOST expensive cities to live in, and you see where you get stuck. You actually understand and can't even try to pretend that the euro and dollar are the same, cause you are using the franc and that is. And buying a sandwhich for 8 franc,s you know, is a rip off, when you just came from Vienna, and got a three course dinner for 5,80. Yes, Vienna is cheap, and the food is great. Go there !

Back to Zurich though. Best part of it is that it has this interesting combo of french and german cultures. The sandwich in my hands is a baguette (french) made out of Pretzel bread(german)! How neat is that!? A lot of the food would be a mix of both german and french, but the serving size I noticed was french. Also french pricing. Which I didn't like so much.

We also went hiking. And saw the Milka cows. They are so cute! And they even have the giant cow bells on them...so everytime they moved.....

I ve decided that happy cows are not from california. They are from Switzerland. AND on that corny note, I m going to bed!