C'est le blizzard aujourd'hui !

Like I mentioned yesterday, 

we are in the middle of a cold snap here.

Over the next few days,

 the forecast includes highs {ahem} of minus 3 degrees 

& lows that go down down down to minus 20.  Whoa.

{Dear American Readers,

I am talking in Celsius, of course, 

because I'm Canadian AND I live in France.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog.  

Now I'll let you have a quick look at my photos

& then go to this Celsius/Fahrenheit conversion website, ok?}

I hope it's warmer where you are!

E xoxo}

Tons of snow fell last night!

There were no flakes falling at bedtime,

but I woke up to this:

View from in front of our apartment building, 8:30 a.m.

View looking right from in front of chez nous.

View looking left from in front of chez nous.

Snowy bus stop sign + traffic moving at around 5 km/hour, 8:35 a.m.
{Hey, Yankees!  Head over to that conversion site for km = miles if you like!}

View from the bus stop {taken while shivering...}

View of gorgeous snowy trees near my destination, 9:30 a.m.
Looks like they are covered in cotton balls, non ?

So there you go. 
It was beautiful, but it was also a hectic morning.
Slippery sidewalks + snow falling non-stop + insane traffic jams = oooof!
I jumped on the bus I often use to get to my destination
in 15 minutes max.
Today?  Nearly an hour.
C'est la vie, n'est-ce pas ?  
C'est l'hiver !!!

Les Scènes du Week-end {34}

This weekend was beyond chilly. 

 We're going through a cold snap right now.

Brrrrrr!

However, Saturday & Sunday were also filled with 

fun at the marché, beautiful snowy scenery & very cute gloves...

Saturday-morning market.  Frozen cheese, anyone?

Could this little girl look even look any more French?

Bonjour, winter veggies!

There's always a big line-up at this "van-tastique" boucher {= butcher}

Chilly self-portrait on the way home from market..

Saturday just before night-fall, I went for a quick {freezing cold} bike ride by le lac.

Sunday we headed up up up to Chamonix {one hour from Annecy by car}.

We didn't ski.  Unlike these dudes.

But we did wander around the village, looking at the touristy hats...

... & admiring {me} / making fun of {FQ} the gloves!

Et voilà !

Those are my ten photos from le week-end.

Of course I took way more pictures in Chamonix,

so you can look forward to some more 

of the snowy-scenery shots soon, ok?

Instasamedi {4}

It's already week 4 of Instasamedi...

As you saw on the blog, 

my dear friend Laure was visiting for a few days.

So that made it a week that was fantastique, excellent & superbe !

It's the middle of winter... but you still need to eat "la salade" !
{samedi, Annecy, marché à côté de chez nous}

My brother & sister-in-law sent us this tropical-fruit jam all the way from Australia!
It's beyond delicious, but almost all gone.
Good thing my brother is coming to visit me in France next month...
with his suitcase full of jam!!
{dimanche, Annecy, chez nous}

I'm sending off tons of "Bonne Année" {Happy New Year} cards these days...
{lundi, Annecy, chez nous}

Annecy's most famous landmark, the "Old Prison" on one of the canals.
{mardi, Annecy, la vielle prison dans la vielle ville}

Bouquet from a friend + fruit bowl full of clementines = pretty dining-room table, non?
{mercredi, Annecy, chez nous}

"Work less to read more"
{jeudi, Annecy, poster on the front door of my favourite bookshop}

Rainy-day café, anyone?
{vendredi, Annecy, café sur la rue du Lac}

Pas de café ? Pfffffffft.

So my friend Laure headed back to Paris today.

{But you can be proud of me if you like, 

because I saw her off at the train station...

& I didn't even cry!!}

We had a fabulous visit the few days she was here.

But the only problem?

I wanted to take her to my favourite café 

{you may remember it from this E & me post...}

which is located in a perfect spot in the vielle ville {= old town},

but I discovered that at the moment, 

it's only open Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

Pfffffffffft.

OK, I know it's the off-season & that's why half the cafés & restos 

in the touristy part of town are closed, but still....

I had a petit temper tantrum.

See?  Crossed arms + pout = cranky me.

E & me {what I'm reading}

It's been chilly, rainy & foggy here in Annecy for the past few days.

Et chez toi ?

Apparently the weather is not very nice chez Erin either.
For both of us, that weather = a lot of reading.

Who's reading what à ton avis {= in your opinion}?

Hmm? Let me know what you think in the comments... merci !

J'adore mon amie Laure...

... & she's visiting Annecy for a few days... youpi !!!

Les Scènes du Week-end {33}

Recap of this weekend?

OK!

The three key words are:  le marché, le shopping, les clementines.

Amazing view from the balcony early Saturday morning.
{Good thing I caught it, because otherwise it poured most of the weekend...}

Our Saturday-morning ritual involves baking our own pains aux chocolat... miam miam !!

This cute guy at the local Saturday-morning market let me take his photo
{even if I didn't have enough euros on me to buy a jar of honey!}

I didn't buy ear-muffs either, but aren't they almost as cute as the honey dude?

I did buy un kilo de clementines... They're from Corsica & beyond delicious.

Saturday-afternoon, we hit the mall to take advantage of les soldes {the sales}.
As you can see, it was really crowded.
{Especially in front of the take-away crêpes booth!}

I did NOT buy a snowmobile.  Or a snowmobile racing video game.
{But this display made me laugh out loud!}

However, I did treat myself to a new Esprit handbag that was 40% off.
What do you think?

And how about my new boots?  They're cute, waterproof & super warm.  Yay!

So there you go.  

But there needs to be one more image of the weekend 

if I want to fulfill my ten photos quota.

So are you ready for proof of what I didn't do this weekend?

Laundry!!!

Instasamedi {3}

Week 3 of Instasamedi!

It was a good week.

Ready?

My niece & I wearing our "galette des rois" crowns after Saturday lunch.
{samedi, Pommiers, chez mes beaux-parents}

Chilly Sunday-morning view from my parents-in-law's house.
{dimanche, Pommiers, chez mes beaux-parents}

Birds sunbathing {?} on a chilly winter afternoon.
{lundi, Annecy, le lac d'Annecy}

Look who was waiting impatiently for their owner {& perhaps a piece of baguette}
inside the entrance to one of my local bakeries...
{mardi, Annecy, boulangerie down the street}

Oooh, I learned a new French word today! Pruning!!
{No wonder the sound of a chainsaw woke me up...}
{mercredi, Annecy, close to our apartment}

We're still working our way through our last box of Christmas chocolates.
Of course I love the "fleur de lys" ones best...
{jeudi, Annecy, chez nous}

Waiting-room art {vendredi, Annecy, Hôpital d'Annecy}

Dear my 50 followers,

I'm thrilled that Rue de France now has 

{drum roll s'il vous plaît...}

50 followers!!!

So... cheers {& merci beaucoup !} to all of you!  

Festive beer from the famous Christmas marché that we wandered around
during our NYE weekend in Colmar {in France's Alsace region... so lovely!}
More photos of Colmar soon, I promise!

Doesn't this make you think of my tattoo?

So are you still wondering about my niece's portrait of me 

& my enormous facial tattoo that I posted the other day?

Well, if so, this may help un petit peu:

 So what do you figure?

What's the connection?

Hmmm...?

E & me {recycling}

So I know it's a little early to talk about Spring cleaning, 

but this week's E & me is all about doing the recycling.

You probably know where the blue box is, right?

If you think it's outside Erin's house, you're correct.

Because I grew up with the blue boxes,

Annecy's big black & yellow bins somehow seem... 

less aesthetically-pleasing to me.

But that's just me being picky, huh?

Because what really counts is the fact we can recycle

paper, plastic, tin cans, cardboard & glass.

Et chez toi ?

Do you have a recycling bin at home?  

If so, what does it look like?

What can you chuck in there?

You hadn't ever noticed my tattoo?

OK, OK... I'll post one more photo from the weekend.

But {as I told you yesterday} 

it won't be anything related to our Sunday-afternoon dance party!

Instead, it will be a portrait of yours truly 

that Juliette presented to me:

Cute, huh?

She drew it at school when they were talking about la famille.

Anybody want to guess what my HUGE facial tattoo is all about?

Hmmm...?

Les Scènes du Week-end {32}

Friday night dinner with friends who we hadn't seen in ages

+

Saturday spent relaxing & eating yet another galette des rois

+ 

Sunday hanging out with ma nièce & mon neveu  

= 

pretty much a perfect weekend.

Apéro avec les filles... I was so happy to see them!
{They're sisters... can you tell?}

Our hosts, Valentine & Guillaume, had set a lovely table, n'est-ce pas ?

Each guest got a party favour... a Christmas-themed chocolate!

Well into the evening, Guillaume brought out apparently the only French vodka that exists.

I did NOT drink French vodka.  But I did laugh a lot anyway.

For dessert after Saturday lunch, my belle-mère made a galette de rois...

Didn't it turn out lovely?

Sunday afternoon, FQ "read" to his nephew & niece.
{By "read", I mean "showed them silly ads involving cats on the iPhone".}

Speaking of silly...

Am I really putting this image of myself out on the Internet?

So there are my ten photos of the weekend.

And thank goodness for that.

Because you know what?

After taking pictures of us silly girls wearing that silly book,

things got totally crazy.

We had an impromptu dance party avec les enfants 

in my parents-in-law's living room.

Really.

Strobe lights

+

Shakira tunes sung by Alvin & The Chipmunks

+ 

bunny-ears, blonde wigs & sunglasses

=

the most fun Sunday afternoon I've had in a long time.

Hmm?

What did you say?

Pardon ?

Ah, you think I'm going to end this post 

with a photo of the dance party?

Mais non !

{I've got to keep un peu de mystère on the blog, non ?}