Festival of Meats

My roommate when I was in Aix used to tell me about her family's "Festival of Meats" which they celebrated whenever a family member returned from a long sejour away. I would like to call what happened last night a festival of meats. Susanna, our resident Austrian, had everyone over for dinner last night to consume the Austrian food and beer her mother brought her last week. Walking into her apartment I was welcomed by at least eight different kinds of smoked and cured meats being cut up for consumption. She brought me to her room to dispose of my jacket where she showed me two crates of Austrian beer. She then poured us each a small glass of liquor she called "welcome schnappes," plum schnappes her family makes themselves. We then proceeded to eat deer meat, white bacon (fat) and endless other types of AMAZING meats. Fortunately, our vegetarian friend could not make it to the dinner, or else she would have been horrified by our carnivorous nature. This meal, along with the amazingness that is Susanna, convinced me and others to spend our April vacation in Austria. Pictures will be posted soon. All in all, a very successful festival of meats, and you all know how much I love meat.

Yesterday was also the opening of the Christmas market in Montpellier. It's huge and gorgeous. I found a number of presents for my family and we're going back today. There were cheese stands, dried fruit stands, chocolate and crepes places and hot wine was being served everywhere. Hot wine? Yes, it's amazing and made with cinnamon among other spices. Today, I'm going to try the hot white wine made with honey. I love France.