Christmas

We had quite a busy holiday season this year. It seemed to sneak up on me and then it was just madness until Christmas was upon us.

We did visit the local Christmas Market again this year.

It was really crowded

Then Matt and Clara went to the Leeds Christmas Market.

Mad because she had to wait

Not so crowded

Look Ma, no seat belt!

She shared two bites of this massive doughnut with Dad

"She cold"

The big kids had their Christmas program at school. The infant classes (Reception, Year 1, and Year 2) all were in one play, so Miles and Lily were together. The premise was that there was a family who hadn't found their holiday cards yet, so elves magically took them to the card factory to pick one out. The children acted out different scenes from the cards- there were festive pirates, cowboys, penguins... It was cute. Miles was a snowman in a winter scene, and Lily was a sheep in the nativity. They both did a great job!

The school had its annual Christmas Fair, and this year Matt worked the fair (cooking hot dogs) while I entertained the kids. They had fun doing crafts, eating cakes, and shopping. They even got to see Santa (this is a terrible picture of a picture).

Another fun event was Matt's work Christmas party. We dressed up, got a babysitter, and had a wonderful night out.

Adele and Beyonce were there!

The kids also had special days at school, including a non-uniform day, an infants Christmas party, and a Christmas luncheon for the whole school. The last week of school before their break was busy and fun. Then after their first week of break, Miles and Lily had a joint birthday party. We rented out a screen at the cinema, and the kids loved it. There was an attached bar area where the adults could relax and enjoy tea or coffee, which was also very nice.

And finally, it was Christmas. We had told the kids that they couldn't wake us up until 6am, and at 6:01 Miles crept into our room. He said he'd been pretending to sleep for a long time, and he just couldn't wait any more. We had a long lazy day, with lots of toys and Nintendo.

Lily found the pickle!

We had ordered a selection of heat and eat food which turned out really nice (and easy!). We had pork roast, cauliflower cheese, steamed carrots and brussels sprouts, and roasted potatoes and parsnips. With salted caramel cheesecake for dessert.

The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day, and is a bank holiday in the UK. Most shops are closed, and we just took the opportunity to have another lazy day. We realized that we had forgotten to do our Christmas crackers on the right day, so we did them the next day. And forgot to get any pictures of that. Like I said, really lazy day.

Now that the craziness is over, it all seems worth it. Happy Holidays!

Paris- Anniversary Dinner

Matt and I had one date night out while we were in Paris. How could we ever decide what to do?

A friend of mine had visited the city about a year ago, and shared pictures of her experience with Bustronome. A double decker bus tour with a gourmet dinner? That sounded perfect for our anniversary dinner!

When the big night arrived, we were to meet the bus near the Arc de Triomphe. We arrived a few minutes early so I could take pictures.

Now, let's talk about the traffic in this roundabout for a minute. I don't know the rules of the road here, but it just looked like a free for all (and no lane markings!).  Here are my blurry photos trying to capture the chaos.

 And here's a YouTube video that does a better job (although from above it looks more organized than it felt).

Back to our date. It had started raining that afternoon, and there was still a steady drizzle as we boarded and were led to our table. It rained on and off the whole evening, which was terrible for pictures. But we talked about it, and agreed that it made for a better experience because we could be present in the moment instead of looking for a good shot or viewing through our phones. We did manage to take a few pictures though.

This tray kept our glasses from sliding around during the journey, and the placemat had a bit of grip to hold onto the plates and cutlery

This was our route. There was also an audio tour, which we listened to most of the time.

I liked the wallpaper

You can get dinner with or without wine pairing. We had champagne, white, and red (and maybe ordered a couple of extra  glasses).

All of the food was amazing. 

Tiny hollowed potatoes filled with cheese

Turnip celery hummous and beetroot pesto

Dry cured cod marinated in herbs, potatoes with speckled hay, and tarragon fromage blanc

One of the best pictures we attempted

Opera Garnier

Well, we tried

King prawn risotto with pumpkin, sweet chestnut and spinach leaves

Matt's looked a little sad without the prawns

Beef striploin with a mushroom froth, whipped truffle cream, and fried parsley

Beaufort cheese with peppered pear and a thin layer of coconut

The red wine was my favorite

When making the reservation, I noted that it was an anniversary dinner. Well, in French, the word "anniversaire" on its own means birthday. Joyeux anniversaire, Matt!

Vacherin cheese with fig and cinnamon

Of course, the whole time we were eating, we were driving around the city, looking (through rain) at various landmarks and other points of interest. We saw the Louvre, Notre Dame, Champs de Mars... Also we noticed two Five Guys (one was three stories, which seemed a little over the top to us). But we stayed on the bus the whole time, until we got to the Eiffel Tower.

The bus stopped, and we stepped outside for pictures. Luckily it had stopped raining. At night, not only is the tower fully lit, but every hour it sparkles for five minutes.We watched the lights, then went back to our table for the final bit of the tour.

Obligatory selfie

Here's a video clip of the light show.

This wasn't listed on the menu, but it was a lovely little sweet bite to finish off

We arrived back at the Arc de Triomphe, and since the rain had stopped, we decided to walk the entire way to the apartment. We decided to enjoy each other's company, and didn't take pictures of our walk. One point of interest, though. We were walking through a park area near the Eiffel Tower, and out of nowhere a rat ran right across our path! It was a few feet away from my feet, but it still scared the crap out of me! (I guess I've led a sheltered life, because that's never happened to me before.)

The entire night was pretty perfect; we both had a really lovely time together. And this isn't a sponsored post at all, but I would highly recommend Bustronome to anyone in Paris (they have one in London, too). It is a really cool concept, and the food was fantastic! A great way to celebrate our anniversary.