First Christmas in France

I've posted about many of the Christmas-related activities we've done lately, but here's what we did on Christmas eve and Christmas day. 

Christmas eve we wanted to make sure we had everything we'd want and need because things closed up early if they were open at all. Apparently Christmas eve is the time that most families get together so everything was closed in town. I did my morning and afternoon walks with Bailey as usual. I'm trying to make sure that we are at the big field between 4:00 and 4:30 p.m. That seems to be the time we are most assured of finding other dogs who want to play. A lot of people are walking their dogs then because it's the last hour before it gets dark. Sure enough, there were a number of dogs at the field and Bailey had a good run with several of them. 

Another Malinois! She was fast too.

The owner said the big guy was an Alaskan wolf dog. Not sure if that means he's a hybrid or what, but he was very nice. He couldn't keep up with the girls running, however.

All the bars and restaurants seemed to be closed Christmas eve, but our favorite beer bar, La Capsule, was due to be open until 8:00 p.m. The owner gave his staff the day off and worked the place himself. There was decent crowd but we got seats at the bar and enjoyed several beers that we new to us. We came home and cooked a pork loin wrapped in pastry, sort of like beef Wellington but done with pork. Very good. Followed it all up with a good night's sleep.

Christmas morning I cooked a smoked salmon quiche, which we followed up with some cheese, and then ate part of Buche Noel. After that I needed a long walk so Bailey and I headed out, going first to the open field in the hope of finding playmates for her. We usually don't on the morning walk, but today being a holiday there were people out with their dogs who normally aren't there at that time. There were three or four dogs there, all playful, and Bailey had a good run, which we followed up with the longer than normal hike. It was cold morning but that's good walking weather, especially with a clear blue sky.

Bailey's Christmas gift was a stick. It's a piece of wood from an olive tree, hard and non-splintering.

She seemed to like it.

Quiche made with smoked salmon and spinach.

Unexpected morning play with this big guy. The owner said he was a Romanian shepherd. 

(I see quite a few unfamiliar dog breeds here.)

And there was a golden there too.

I had made a big pot of beef and noodle soup yesterday and that really hit the spot after the long walk in the cold. This blog post and photos took up much of the afternoon before our next walk, which will be followed up with dinner at a really good Italian restaurant Christmas evening. There were more eating out options on Christmas day than on Christmas eve. 

Bailey in reindeer antlers I had picked up in Cologne. 

(I waited until the other dogs were gone so she wouldn't be embarrassed.)

Solstice and other stuff

Today is Winter Solstice and although it may be the shortest day of the year, we actually saw some sunshine on this morning's walk. Winter is just getting started but at least the days will now get longer. 

No dogs were present on our first pass through the off-leash field on this morning's walk, but on the way back there were at least a dozen dogs running around, playing, socializing. 

We weren't out really early this morning, but the sun still wasn't up very far.

We took one of the bridges over the canal.

This was the most sunshine we've seen in well over a week.

Anyone who knows me can't be surprised that even after a move to France this blog, and my life, is still pretty much dog-centric. The biggest difference is that now my focus is on just one dog. As luck would have it, that one dog is a female shepherd type who is more than capable of totally absorbing all that focus. I recently posted a pair of pictures of Maya and Bailey taken two years apart and someone commented that I "have a type" referring to the similarities of those two dogs. That's no secret and again shouldn't surprise anyone who has known me for long. However, as needy as Bailey may be, we do get into some other things around here. She needs a break from the walking and she still doesn't care much for city stuff. Here are a few pictures from concerts and other events around town over the last couple of weeks.

These two pictures, above and below, are the only structures remaining from the old port of Dunkirk on the Deule river/canal here in Lille.

This is the creche in one of two old churches in the neighborhood. This one is Saint Maurice. The figures are formed from chicken wire covered with paper and lit from inside. This is pre-Christmas, so it just shows a pregnant Mary, Joseph, and a sheep. This church is interesting, and like the other one in the area, it's badly in need of some substantial maintenance that they don't seem to be able to afford. 

This is back at the cathedral in Lille where we went for gospel concert one evening. It was somewhat disappointing due to a bad sound system that didn't pick up the vocals very well. We left early and went for a beer. 

This is the Sebastopol theater in Lille where we went for a concert one evening featuring music from Edith Piaf. It was quite good and the place is beautiful. 

This is the prefecture, or city hall, that we walked past on the way to the Sebastopol. This is on a large square opposite from the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille.  

This was back at the opera house another evening for another event, this one a dance performance based on a medieval painting. It was strange but we enjoyed it.

The big ferris wheel in the Grand Place is beautiful at night. We heard that this is the last year it will have open-air gondolas. Apparently it's going to be refitted with more winter-friendly seats next year.

Also, the Grand Place is being closed to vehicular traffic sometime after the first of the year. As someone who only walks and doesn't have a car in this town, I'm very much in favor of this change.

We were back at the Sebastopol theater last week for a christmas concert.

This is the interior of the Eglise Saint Etienne (church of saint Stephen). We were there for another christmas concert last week. This church is just down the street from us. It's a beautiful building that is also in great need of maintenance. They have fabric hung across the ceiling to catch bits that fall off. I'm sure these city churches don't have much congregation any more and this is a city that had to skimp on its cathedral which wasn't finished until the 1999 due to lack of funds.  

At the end of the performance, the entire audience stood and sang some song directed to the statue on the left. Color me confused.

Street scene in Vieux Lille Friday evening.

On Saturday we went to a craft show and sale held in an old railroad factory in a Lille suburb. We bought a couple of things and there's a good brewery nearby.

The railroad factory was taken over by the Germans and then bombed out by the allies in WWII.

It was rebuilt after the war but closed down in the 1970s. The building is now a multi-use space.