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?

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!!!

Les Scènes du Week-end {31}

So does anybody remember way back when 

every Monday I was posting

"Les Scènes du Week-end" 

with ten photos showing you my Saturday & Sunday stuff?

Hmm?  Nope?

Well, no worries. It's been quite a while...

But I've decided to get back to it in 2012, 

because it's a fun feature that I enjoy sharing with you

& that I love reading par example, 

on Pughs' News or Exquisite Banana.

So, without further ado, here are the scenes from this past weekend.

Get ready for lots of shots of fruit & veg,

time spent in the kitchen 

& not much more.  

You see, I was still working on getting over this beyond-nasty flu.

It's almost gone!

And it will NOT be back.

{Unlike les Scenes du Week-end... haha!}

Squeezing oranges for OJ on Saturday morning

"Happy New Year" on local bus

Zillions of galettes des rois at the supermarket {remember my post about them over here?}

I came back from the supermarket with everything I needed to make leek/potato soup

While I stayed in for a cozy afternoon, FQ went skiing with a friend at a local station de ski {as you can see, he's almost as much of an Instagram maniac as I am...}

After making soup, I took down all the Christmas decorations {le sigh...}

Even if our neighbours still have their festive lights up...

Sunday morning = heart-shaped pancakes {I know, it's not quite Valentine's Day...}

Post-pancake walk & swan-sighting down by the lake

Our friends' cat, EP, who we are feeding as they are away on vacation at the moment

Et voilà !

Les Scènes du Week-end {26}

We had a wonderful weekend trip to Chamonix

avec mes parents.

The weather was gorgeous, sunny & warm during the day.

It made it hard to believe we were up in the mountains 

& that it is mid-October.

 

That being said, we could see 

the beginning of the beautiful autumn colours in the woods

& the stunning Mont Blanc glacier shining in the sun.

It was wow, wow & wow.

So without further ado, here are the photos I promised you.

Take it away, Chamonix!

the train station

café, église, forets, montagnes

us being tourists with the guides de Chamonix mural

there was A LOT of cheese in town

speaking of fromage, my mom & I shared a fondue Saturday night... YUM

winter's already here in the shop window displays

this ad made me laugh... "prêt à..." = ready to...

as I mentioned above, forest + mountains + glacier + sun = WOW

at tea-time, I treated myself to a pistachio macaron

Sunday before leaving town, we hit the MBC, a Canadian-founded microbrewery

*********

 

So as I write this post,  

my parents are on the plane back to Vancouver.

I'm feeling sad & missing them already.

I have beaucoup de photos of their time en France 

to share with you soon.

 

In the meantime, I'm headed to aquafit class at my gym

to hopefully burn off at least a few

 of the fondue/macaron/brewpub calories from this past weekend...

Bon lundi tout le monde !

Moi, ma mère & le lac

The other day, my parents & I drove around le Lac du Bourget,

which is located not too far from Annecy. 

 It is the largest & deepest lake located entirely within France

& is impressively beautiful.

{We're not too shabby either, non ?}

This weekend is my parents' last few days in France during this visit.
Le sigh.

But we have fun plans for the next few days.

We're going to Chamonix, 

so stay tuned for lots of mountain/glacier/fondue photos next week...

Bon week-end !

Les Scènes du Week-end {23}

This weekend was all about musical friends with similar names,

pretty mountain views,

housework, hot beverages & rain.

Friday night, my dear friend Anna,

who I met when I was an English teacher in Poland, 

was playing a concert in a little village about an hour from Annecy.

Anna is an amazing pianist.  

You can read more about her here.

I invited my new friend Ana 

{spelled with only one "n", but still pretty cool...}

to go with me to the concert

because I know she is very musical herself

& that she'd love listening to Bach & the rest of the programme.

Old friends & new friends 

& beautiful music 

& tasty Polish-style food after the concert?

It was a great night, 

not to mention the perfect way to start the weekend.

Anna at the end of her lovely concert.

We decided that we look as young as the last time we saw each other, 8 years ago.

After the concert, I slept over at my friend Ana's house 

in the middle of the French Alps countryside.

She & her husband made a yummy brunch on Saturday morning

& the rain stopped long enough 

so that we could have a little walk around their property.

So charming!

Country road outside my friend Ana's house in a local village.

The last blooms of the season & the beautiful view from Ana & Nico's house.

Walnuts from a tree near Ana's place.

Sunday morning it was pouring rain.

But I wanted a break from the housework 

& to take advantage of some local events

set up for the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine.

I decided to put on my gumboots,

grab my umbrella

& participate in a guided tour 

of some 1930s mansions in my neighbourhood.

Other brave/nerdy folks came out for the walking tour.

Many of the local 1930s mansions have art-deco entryway posts like this one.

I love my gumboots.

Sunday-afternoon coffee {& Tim Tams from my brother.}

The sun finally came out while I was mid-chores on Sunday afternoon, so I cleaned the kitchen window.  Whee!