Adieu à la France qui s'en va

Possibly my most pretentious post title yet*, but it seemed sort of appropriate. (Sort of appropriate because technically it was me, and not France, which was s'en va-ing.)

After not sleeping most of the night, I got out of bed and had a cup of coffee. At eight, it occurred to me that it was still dark outside. Closer inspection revealed the unmistakable presence of snow. Hmm. Probably should watch the weather more often (by which I mean ever).

Heroic Annie (of Annie & Richard fame) drove me to the train station, a thrill ride involving uncleared streets, questionable breaking stalled trucks and u-turns. At the station, she abandoned cultural convention and gave me an honest-to-goodness hug. It felt fantastic. I have nothing against la bise, I rather like it in fact, but it occurs to me now that hugs are the corporal equivalent of comfort food.

More to follow on the adventures of La Rentrée aux USA, but for the moment I thought I'd share a few snow pictures:

*Adieu à la France qui s'en va is the title of a 2003 book by Jean-Marie Rouart, a member of the Académie Française. I know, totally pretentious, right? Particularly since I haven't actually read the book.