Joyeux Noël

Tonight the Holzhausens depart from Atlanta on that midnight plane to Paris! I'll be meeting them at the airport in the morning and we'll spend a few days in Paris soaking up all of the Christmas festivities the city of lights has to offer. Then on Tuesday it's off to London via the Chunnel for post-Christmas goodness and New Year's Eve festivities. But in the meantime, I should recap the past week.

Last Saturday I set off for Bruges, Belgium, which is known not just for the movie "In Bruges," but for being one of the best-preserved medieval cities in all of Europe. It definitely lived up to that reputation, my friends. The whole place does not even look real. It's like stepping back in time. If you ever have the chance, heed the advice of the movie and get to Bruges.

And then I made it back to Tours earlier this week where I have mostly spent too much time sleeping since most people went home for the holidays last weekend, and a little bit of time finishing up last minute Christmas shopping.

In other news, my grad school applications are nearly all done! Which begs the question, where in the world will I be this time next year? As always I'm incapable of planning more than 6 months in advance so I have resigned myself to not only apply to grad schools all over America, but also to re-apply for this assistantship next year even though a major part of why I'm having such a good time over here are the other assistants who will all be gone next year. And, as much as I like Tours, the weather is killing me slowly and painfully. To the nice old man in the Belgian train station who told me he hoped it would be warmer & drier when I got back to Tours after maybe a half-hour of drizzle in Bruges, you've obviously never been here before. A small, naive part of me thought that once I got over here I would magically figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. Well let me tell you, my friends, that has not happened. In fact, I think I'm more confused than ever. Uggggghhhh. All I want for Christmas is for someone to figure my life out for me. K thanks.

Joyeux Noël and à bientôt, mes amis!