random: Have a Holly Jolly

Voila... so Christmas has passed (well not quite yet in the US), but for me, it is done. Things went just as I predicted and I had a very special Christmas. Yesterday, I took a train to Lyon to spend Christmas with Adrien's family. Christmas eve was spent at Adrien's grandmother's very cute vielle (old) house. As Adrien's mother prepared a late delicious dinner, I watched Adrien struggle to open the can of foie gras (the liver of a duck who has been force fed) to pass the time.
During dinner, we sat around the table drinking champagne and I tried to listen, picking up random words per sentence. Then Adrien's mother began to quiz me on my French vocabulary by pointing at different body parts. When we got to the eye (singular), I completely forgot, turning to Adrien to think. The word was at the tip of my tongue, therefore out of frustration, I blurted out "Putain! (bad word, could mean a few things, but in the context it probably meant the S*** word or the F*** word)" Oops... The room was silent and all eyes were on me... and then the laughter commenced. Adrien thought it was the funniest thing ever "because it came out so naturally," but I was mortified. What a first impression I must have made on his grandmother.
Then, Adrien's sister asked me to pass the champagne. The champagne was sitting behind me on a shelf next to the lamp. I turned around, grabbed the bottle, but rejoined the conversation, not paying attention, and nearly pulled the lamp down with the bottle. Later on, I was helping with the dishes, when Adrien's sister asked me to ask where the bowls belong.
"...les valises viennent d'où?" I demanded.
"mon cherie, ils ne sont pas les valises" (my dear, those are not the valises), Adrien's mom replied.
oops... I had just realized that I asked where the suitcases came from instead of dishes.
I had reason though, to say dishes in French, one would say "les vaisselles."
I went to bed, but I certainly did not have "visions of sugarplums dancing in my head." Christmas morning, I could not recall my dream, but I am certain that it was about World War II with Nazis and I am pretty sure that Klaus Barbie made an appearance. I then asked Adrien if his grandmother's house had anything to do with the war, but he said not really, just a bomb in the garden and he told me that a few areas were trenches. Interesting that I had this dream because Klaus Barbie was known as the butcher of Lyon for killing off and torturing thousands of people.
After we opened presents, we parted for Adrien's aunt's house. Conversation was hard for me, so once again, I found myself day dreaming often. Apparently it was quite apparent that I could hardly comprehend what was going on, because Adrien's cousin's boyfriend told me that it was fun watching my face when I didn't understand what was going on. Then Adrien's other cousin tried to have a conversation with me while I was daydreaming, so I did not respond. It was difficult to understand what was going on when you have 10 very excited people speaking at once all in a different language (which I am not fluent in). Adrien's aunt encouraged the others to speak slowly so I could understand, but this would last for just a moment, and the speed would quickly pick up gaining momentum. I have a hard time listening to people speak in English, let alone in French. The same, I enjoyed myself.
After dinner and after watching a video of his cousin (who I discovered was on the French version of American Idol), we left for the train station. This would not be a normal travel experience with me if something bad didn't happen, so of course, the second we entered the train station, we noticed a large group of people staring at the screen. Delays everywhere... all trains, except for mine. My train was cancelled. The trains were delayed, because someone assaulted the SNCF conductor (only in France would the entire chain of trains stop for that). I had to wait in the train station for an extra hour until the next and last train went to Grenoble arrived. This isn't a bad wait, except for the tiny fact that it is freezing in the train station. I was so cold, I could not feel my toes. I finally got on the train, but of course, I would have to sit in the only car that did not have heat. I sat curled up in the fetal position for about 30 minutes (but it felt like hours) freezing, layering everything that I had in my suitcase on me. Fortunately, Adrien's sister got me gloves (since I lose mine often) and his mother got me a scarf, so I was semi-good to go. I just needed socks. Finally the girl who was sitting in front of me had the bright idea to check the other cars for heat. She came back with great news and we moved. I was almost unthawed by the time we arrived in Grenoble, so I was disappointed that I was going to have to wait in line for a taxi. Since it was Christmas, there was about 2 taxis per hour (not true, but they didn't come often) After 45 minutes waiting in the below freezing temperature, a taxi arrived and I finally made it home.

Below are some pictures from Christmas