Christmas in Paris

We arrived in Paris on Christmas day.  Rather than transferring to another train to take us directly to the hotel, we decided to walk.  This longer than expected walk took us through the gardens surrounding the Louvre, through Concord Square and the Christmas Market on the Champs Elysées, which was just opening in time for us to get a crepe salee. It was a cold day but it was Christmas in Paris!  It was a dream come true.  Our hotel was a quintessential Paris hotel; The Hotel Napoleon.  The tiny, charming room seemed like the perfect place to spend Christmas.    

 What a perfect way to spend Christmas.  We explored the streets of Paris.  We have both been to Paris before.  Ryan while on a high school trip and me for work.  Paris is a very different city when you are there with someone you love.  We walked through two Christmas markets, watched the ice skaters at a tiny rink near the Eiffel Tower and sipped coffee in a cafe.  Later, we had a romantic dinner at a beautiful restaurant. 

  The next day, we continued to explore the city.  We took the subway to Montmartre and walked about a million steps to get to the Basilica and then up to the bell tower.  The view was well worth the walk. 

We left the Basilica just as the sun was setting.  We couldn't have planned it more perfectly.  The sky was the most stunning amber.  We stopped and watch sunset then walked the tiny streets of Montmartre in search if dinner.  After dinner, we walked to the Christmas market for crepes with nutella and banana.

On our last day we went to the Louvre and I finally got to ice skate in Paris!  Doesn't every little girl dream of spending Christmas in Paris with the love of her life? Well, I did.  Thank you Ryan for making another dream come true.

Christmas in Wiesbaden

Our first Christmas in Wiesbaden was beautiful.  We didn't actually stay for Christmas Day but with the Christmas Market just a few steps outside our front door, it felt like Christmas for the whole month of December.

We walked down to the market several days after work to look around and have some gluwien (hot, mulled wine- YUM!), which always seemed to hit the spot.  Or, we would go after dinner for dessert or just a frigid evening walk to look at the lights.

Living in the city in the winter was fantastic for us.  We both wanted to live in the city but I don't think either of us realized that it meant we could walk just two minutes to a party every evening.  There were lights at every turn.  Every store and restaurant was decorated or over-decorated.  When it snowed, which was often, it was like a winter wonderland.  It was the perfect place for us to spend our first winter in Germany.

We didn't have a Christmas tree since we were not planning to be home for Christmas so we claimed the city tree as our own...

The Longest 40-minute Commute Ever

Everyone in the office was talking about the snow. "It's really coming down out there," is what heard from several different people in which I had varying levels of confidence.  People began to leave early and since we didn't have the most reliable car or the requisite winter tires, we left too.  The drive on the autobahn wasn't too bad.  It was snowing and most people were driving at a good pace.  Germans are excellent drivers even in the snow.  

It was a Friday and the weather report indicated that we would be stuck in the apartment most of the weekend.  Since we didn't have TV or Internet, I talked Ryan into stopped to rent a few movies.  This is when it really got rough.  Leaving the base, which is the only place we know of to rent English movies, is all downhill.  Downhill is not good when the plows leave an inch of snow on the ground to be compacted into a solid sheet of ice.  We were on the sidewalk at one point.  We almost hit at least 3 other cars. There were a few very tense moments down this hill. When we got to the road that leads into the city, we saw the concrete and assumed it would be clear sailing to our parking garage.  Then we turned onto the street below, which you can see still has ice and snow. 

The drive from this point to our garage usually take 5 minutes.  However, this night, it took over an hour.  We slipped and slid all over the road.  We took turns pushing the car when it got stuck.  I begged Ryan to let me push through one intersection because I was afraid I couldn't steer.  My high-heeled boots really were impressive as the dug into the ice.  

 There were moments when Ryan didn't want me to talk because he was concentrating and the moment above when he was in utter disbelief that the city had left so much snow un-plowed.

After over 2 hours on the road, we decided that we would not make it up the hill to our parking garage so we stopped in another garage and walked the rest of the way.  This was a pretty stressful drive home so the last thing I was expecting when Ryan called me out to the balcony was to see that he had written "I love you" in the snow.  After this horrible night, all he wanted to do was see me smile.  

And, I did smile... for the rest of the night.  I knew at that moment that no matter what went wrong for us as long as we stuck together and took care of each other, everything would work out just fine.  

We decided to walk to the Viking restaurant for dinner and this time, we enjoyed the snow.  When you don't have to drive in it, the snow really makes the city beautiful!