Crepes and Christmas

I realize I haven't been posting as much lately - Alas, the impending holiday season has taken its toll, and it seems as if most of our time has vanished into gathering fits and Christmas cards and making lists. Bleagh! And people ask me why I hate Christmas... You never have to do this sort of time-devouring crap for Halloween!

Our relation to Christmas has changed from when we lived in the states, though, and in many ways it is much more peaceful here. Christmas season in the USA starts sometime in middle October, and once past October 15th it was hard to find a store not chock-full of Christmas junk, with jinglebell holiday muzak playing in every grocery. Here, the toy aisles are out, but I haven't heard "Winter Wonderland" yet. In general, the whole marketing assault is turned way down in France, allowing a pleasantly cozy and understated Christmas - unlike my memories of Christmas in the US, which were like having someone screaming into your ear and hitting you on the head with a Tickle-Me Elmo for two months straight. I want to bring all my American friends here for December to see what it really can be like, just as I want to take all my French friends to the US for Halloween to see how it ought to be.

Today's pic has no connection to any of this, though - I just had no idea what to post and it looked like a good choice. That's a "fruits de la mer" (mixed seafood) crepe served at La Saboterie, one of the better creperies in our area. Like most of the best restaurants here, it is tiny, tucked-away, and unassuming, but deliciously good. The seafood pile is eaten atop the handmade buckwheat pancake - Delicious!