Bechamel in Marseille

Who knew there was such a fascination with all things anime in Marseille?

Alex and I took in the Japan expo last weekend and was a bit underwhelemed.

However, we did see a lot of enthusiastic fans.

Alex found his inner nerd

Sumo wrestling

Kimono tryons

Obsessive gaming

and a DDR contest!

And I indulged in origami…. and discovered how non-asian I am

Marseille has pretty mild weather. It drops into the 50’s during the winter, but with the exception of the FUCKING Mistral, a horrendous fucking wind that makes everyone crazy and stay inside (think Santa Ana winds but cold!)

bref, it never snows. It’s not that cold here. Think Northern California weather….

Now on January 6th, I woke up to this

WTF!

Now, being a veteran of Montreal snow systems, I foolishly thought that a little snow wouldn’t hamper my bus to work. How wrong was I.

Marseille freaked out by closing all the highways and cancelling all buses for 3 DAYS. 3 DAYS PEOPLE!!!! My clients in Canada and Scandinavian countries thought it was ridiculous.

I, however, did enjoy it not working for 3 days!

Alex and I ventured out to go shopping (first day of the soldes!!) and enjoyed the quiet.

So I had promised myself I would update my blog with all these glorious French photos from my New Year’s Eve party…. then I bought the WII…..!

So excuses all around… here ya go

We went up to Alex’s sister’s place in Orleans again this year as they were organizing a huge party for about 20 people in their amazing house.

SO OF COURSE, many food pornography to come!

This is Boursin and Ham rolls…… please eat and buy Boursin. I can bathe in it! (For the unitiated, it’s a soft cheese with garlic and herbs)

I UNSUCCESSFULLY made a gingerbread house for the first time.

Why is it roofless? Because I measured it incorrectly. Alex’s Brother-in-law also kept on breaking off pieces to eat.

And the cutest cat ever…… Pistache!

Did I mention the cuteness???

Huge platters of cooked shrimp waiting to be devoured by me…!!!!! it’s awesome with aioli

Shucking oysters

Playing with his new gift

Catching up on much needed sleep

And the best thing ever……..! I know, I grew up SDA, but pork skin is SOOOO sinfully good….

Appetizers brought by other people

And me dressed up for the party (I was…… uhmm masked Asian-American girl. )

Now if you haven’t heard me squealing about French kids, hear me now. I normally detest children… but French children  beat any kids by a mile (with the exception of the Twins…!).

They had their own seperate table

AND CAN YOU SEE THIS!!!! It’s pâté in the shape of a duck!!

The adults had classier yet boring-er fare such as oysters and shrimp.

With all the lovely desserts…..

Then a rousing round of gift exchanges

And midgnight…

With little angels gathering confetti like no tomorrow

VOILA!