So East it's Ouest

So what's been happening since last week?  Things have calmed down a tad although France is still under a state of emergency and Belgium had a serious scare but now the news has refocused on the climate summit in Paris.  Everything around here is decorated for Christmas (Noël) and St.Nicolas was celebrated last weekend.  All around here are pop up Christmas markets with mulled wine and h andmade goods.  Lucia has taught me the simplest most delicious way to roast vegetables.  I've spent some time with new adoptive Italian family as well as a young couple (Russian/Argentinan) and any free time is used out in service or going to the grocery store to buy groceries before Lucia does.  Every Wednesday I do a long day in service with a sister from Valenciennes, sometimes taking the train into town early in the morning, we going in service and have lunch at her house (I make guacamole) and I have a few return visits which is awesome. Teaching has been going okay.  Some days are really

No I do not live in Paris, I'm about 2 hours away.  Wow things can change so quickly.  The recent events on Friday night (November 13) prove that. I keep hearing "I'm not going to let this make me fearful" but the change is palpable.  People are afraid, they are angry, they are dazed.  The national pride is so thick you could cut it with a knife.  For the past week the news has been playing the events in a loop.  The implications are going to be complexe and long lasting.  It's everything people want to hear about and nothing they want to think about.  No one wants to talk about religion and a few have even been agressive.  I live right smack dab in the middle between Brussels and Paris so yes many people are worried and there have even been rumors of future attacks in small villages.  There no way you can 'be careful' in this kind of event but I'm trying to keep my eyes open and stay close to the friends.  Thanks for all your texts/thoughts/prayers (A

This is late in coming since I am now surrounded by delicious beer rather than delicious wine; however seeing as I have just recently been enlightened I will share my new found knowledge.  Do you drink wine?  Have you ever drunk French wine?  If so you may have noticed something special about the cork of a French bottle, well not exactly the cork but the foil.   In French this is usually called: la capsule (CRD) Aka'F: l'opercule, la pastille, le sceau, la capsule-congé This is the thing that covers up the cork and in France it has the symbol of Marianne (the female symbol of the French Republic) stamped onto it.  Ok so we have the symbol of France but why is it on the bottle of wine in the first place and why is it important?   First if you have seen this symbol you have just drunk a wine that was made in France and technically destined for French people because this cap means that it has been taxed as an alcohol in France, wines from France that do not have this stamp cap