Hello, December

December is finally here. Rennes is freezing, but alive with the sights, sounds and smells of Christmastime.

Yesterday was December 1st. After finishing a LOAD of SAT Prep work (sorry that I have no social life), I decided I'd adventure into town and meet my friend Elizabeth at her house. She has it good, I'll tell you that. She lives in a huge house at le Parlement, which is basically the town centre, and her window looks out over the whole city. While the rest of us live on the outskirts of town, near school or in the suburbs (the Boonie Kids), Elizabeth lives right in the heart of Rennes. Not bad.

I walked to her house and from there we walked into Place de Parlement. Since November 23 there's been a Christmas fair called Le Marché de Noël, where you can buy little Christmas gifts, eat roasted chestnuts, churros, beignets and chocolate covered strawberries on a stick, and find christmas decorations of all sorts - from reindeer to dancing Santas. I had been there on Friday night with Grant, Omar, Alejandra, Maria and Jasmine and it was a great jolt into the holiday spirit.

Elizabeth and I made our way through it and walked through a few side streets to get to Place Hoche, where there's another Christmas fair set up. This one's inside a tent and it's not as cheery and jolly as the other, but still a great place to buy handmade bags, candles and ornaments.

Afterwards, we sauntered down the streets of Rennes. It was late afternoon, and all the Christmas lights had been turned on for the first time. They'd been up for weeks, and all of us SYAers had been waiting impatiently for them to illuminate the night sky. Twinkling lights danced from telephone pole to telephone pole and hung from gutters outside every shop and restaurant. We sat down at a café with coffee and hot chocolate and took in the sparkling sky.

Wes and Maren arrived and we all decided to go back to Le Marché de Noël once again. This time, we acquiesced to our cravings for chocolate-covered strawberries on a stick and we simply wandered from stall to stall, feeling the Christmas spirit envelope every one of us.

The three of them departed for sushi but I got back on the bus and headed home for my host mum's birthday dinner. When I arrived, my host brother, Grégoire, and his girlfriend were here with their baby boy and Clémence, Patrick (my host dad), and Maryvonne were sitting around the table, and we began our superb meal of cheese fondue, followed up by lemon tart.

It was a good night.