and in france, we're closed too

Maybe the holidays aren't the best time to travel in Europe. After our experiences in Spain, I was really looking forward to getting 'home' to France where I know how things work. We got back to Paris on the eve of the 31st - a new-year's-eve-free-ride on the RER from Roissy to Nanterre was a welcome surprise. We stopped back by the apartment to recuperate our bags, and then headed to Poix. Michael opened his Christmas gifts (which required Belgian beer tasting the rest of the week), and we had a nice quiet evening at home. Ahh. I was finally able to relax.

I knew that most everything would be closed for New Year's day, so we stuck around Poix doing laundry and walking around town. We spent quite a bit of time in the cemetery - I was surprised by the section of Muslim graves, and by reading one of them, I learned that one of my student's grandfather had been a senator and a knight in the Legion of Honor. There's also a small cemetery of British, Australian, New Zealander and Canadian graves from World War II, which has me wondering what exactly happened around my little town.

We made sure to be in Amiens for the final sound and light show of the season at the Cathedral. I think Michael liked it - I mean, if the number of pictures he took is proof, he did. We hoped to find a restaurant open in St. Leu to end our evening, but absolutely nothing was open. I drove around town, and we found the Indian restaurant across from the train station was the only place open besides Pizza Hut. I timidly asked if they had room for 2, and they said sure, and stuck us in the otherwise empty dining room next door. And promptly forgot about us. Finally, I went to the bar and explained that we'd been waiting for 15 minutes, and could we please see a menu. We finally got dinner, and were some of the last ones to leave the restaurant. It was then that I realized that our waiter, to whom I'd been translating Michael's order and comments, spoke perfect English. Duh. Indian. English. I felt like a fool. But at least we were able to have dinner.