A Very Housewifely Noel

I spent Christmas with Ju and Monica, a friend from Middlebury. It's great to be with good friends when you can't be at home with family!

I enlisted Monica to help me with cookies - we rolled double chocolate cookies in coconut and ended up with poop hands :)

I felt so domestic this year, baking and cooking up a storm in good company!

Grenoble sous la neige

Even in the center of the city, and despite heavy fog and light rain, we were able to see the mountains surrounding the city.

Rain instead of snow, but it's still charming!

Ringing in 2012 with a Randonnée

 Monica and I rang in the New Year with a vigorous hike in the local hills. We had amazing weather - cool and clear - that allowed us to see the great view of the nearby mountains and the little villages along the Rhone river. Here are a few pictures from our walk!

View of the Vercors mountains from the end of my street - usually it's not clear enough to see the snow!

We hiked up a hill in Tournon - from there, we had this view of Tain, my little French town

New Year's hike is good for morale! (and it felt great walking off those Christmas cookies!)

Tournon in the foreground,  Tain in the background, and the Rhone running through the two.