COLD

This morning, I woke up, parted the curtains in my window, and experienced the beginning. The beginning of what, you ask? The beginning of something so chilling that today I spent 119.00 Euros on a pair of boots. I parted the curtains to a beautiful day, sunny and without a cloud but the trees were craning in a southerly direction. The winds of change have arrived and with them they bring winter. And I am not adapted to cold, dry, weather like this. I did some research that I would like to share with you. Please, take a quick look at this graph:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT003580

Notice the average highs and lows. I think this justifies the purchase of the boots I bought today. Parents, before you go getting your panties in a wad, They are leather, they fit me, and they are very warm. I have never owned shoes like this before, and I think I am really going to need them. I ran into Med, the guy from a few blogs ago and I asked him if the winters in Lyon were always like this. He told me this was only the beginning. There will be more wind, snow and cold cold coldness in general. I really don't want to spend any more money but I think I need to find somewhere were I can buy some inexpensive yet warm clothing. And some tights. Also a thick scarf.

I don't know if any of you have heard of the french "Mistral". If not, click here.

You will notice that I happen to live in the Rhone-Valley. I know Lyon is not one of the main areas affected by this wind, that it's mostly Provence, but I'm sure Lyon gets a portion of this blustery (one of my favorite Y words) wind. All I know is that I was rudely awoken today and now I have dry hands and chapped lips. Whooooo...I was not expecting this.

On a completely unrelated note, Mexican food. I made my family a mexican fajita feast today and It was incredible. Well, as incredible as you can get without hot sauce, black beans, cheddar cheese and sour cream. Now I know what you are thinking. "HELLO.......ESSENTIAL!!" I beg to differ. First of all, the french don't like spicy things so I made salsa, and damn, I make good salsa! Who knew? But, they kept asking me what was so strong in the taste of the fajita. I told them it was the salsa and that it was probably the onion and garlic that made it so strong. These people really do not have "spicy" in their diets at all. Next, we used kidney beans, and they worked fine. Third, I found something better than cheddar cheese and its more fun to day. Mimolette. I grated it myself and Sixtine, my sister almost had a fit. "Shredded Mimolette? No way! Incredible!", she said. Mimolette is her favorite kind of cheese and apparently me shredding it was the most genial thing she has ever seen. As for sour cream, we used fromage blanc which, was not as good, but was definitely healthier for you. I think I did damn good. I even made Spanish Rice! For the first time! Brigitte was very happy to not cook a meal and she also wants to get all my recipes. hahaha....take that French cuisine.

I also got my passport and it only took 6 days. I am very impressed with the French/American communication. I was expecting the worst. The only issue (because there always is one with me, duh.) is that they did not send my old passport back which has my visa in it. Which I kind of need. Okay, I do not want to talk about passport issues. F that.

Okay, Im going to go curl up in my bed and try to warm up. Bon soir.