How Many Different Cheeses Are There in France?

Trick question! Nobody can really put a number on the actual amount.
Only 56 cheeses are classified, protected, and regulated under French law. But traditionally there were anywhere from 350-400 cheeses, and now there are over 1,000.

Final Days

Well, this is it. The last  week! I can't believe how quickly it's gone. And slow at some points. But it's all coming to an end now...soon it'll be back to work and responsibilities.

Wednesday mom started preparing Thanksgiving dinner, and I had plans to meet Justine downtown to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter et les Reliques de Mort). Mom ended up coming with us because she had originally planned to meet dad downtown (because he was going with a guy from Steelcase who had come in from Amsterdam) but it was too complicated to try and figure out the meeting places and times for her, so she came to the movie with me. The movie was amazing, I was VERY happy with it! I can't wait to go home and see it again!
After the movie, mom and I got on tram C to go back to Homme de Fer where we take tram B to Lingolsheim Allouettes and get on bus 22 to Holtzheim Ouest, where we get off and walk only 2 minutes to our house. While we were riding on tram C, I pulled out the bus schedule, only to discover that the last bus ran 20 minutes ago.
So now, we were in a tricky situation. We could still take tram B, but then we would have to walk home from Lingolsheim...a rather far walk, and it was COLD out. Or, since we knew that dad was downtown, and even where he had parked, we could go and find the car. This is what we decided to do. It was about 8:30 (20:30). We didn't have any trouble finding the car in the parking ramp...the only problem we had was what to do after that. We knew dad wouldn't really be done with dinner soon, but we didn't want to try and go find him because there are thousands of restaurants downtown, and it would be only too easy to miss him. So, we waited. And waited. And waited. A little over an hour later, dad's bright blue coat appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Whew!

Thursday, dad dropped us off at Justine's apartment so that we could take over their kitchen and prepare Thanksgiving dinner for her and her parents and Claire and Marion. Justine had given me a set of keys the previous night at the movie, because her parents and herself had already left thursday morning for work and school. So mom and I let ourselves into the foyer, with two massive bags of supplies, plus three different dishes, and make up bags and such. We took the elevator up to the 2nd floor, went up to the apartment, turned the key twice...and nothing happened. We could hear the locks clicking, but the door was not budging one bit... So now what?
Well, a very long and embarrassing story later, a guy in a reality office below helped us to figure out the trick to the door (turn the key, then pull the key slightly, and push the door). So we got in and spent the day cooking up Thanksgiving dinner. We made; two turkeys, raspberry jello, mashed potatoes, corn,  mom's sweet potato dish, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Justine got home around 4:30 (16:30), and her parents a bit after that. Claire and Marion came over around 7:00 (19:00) and then we sat down and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Today we are meeting Justine and her parents downtown. Tonight is the night that they turn on all the lights they've been diligently putting up for a few weeks. So all the alleyways will be light up and decorated for Christmas. Then tomorrow we are meeting again downtown to go to the Christmas market. Sunday my parents and I might visit a few Christmas markets in surrounding villages. Then later in the day I'm going to nap till about midnight, so that I can be up and ready to go at 3:20 Monday morning to catch our 4:15 bus from Strasbourg to Frankfurt! Then we have a full day of travel, finally landing in Grand Rapids, MI at 6:30 pm. That is...if everything goes smoothly...

Sunday and Monday

Sunday was another uneventful day. We drove around Strasbourg a bit to see some sights my dad wanted to see. Then we stopped downtown, got lunch, and picked up some yummies for chocolate fondue (which I happened to ruin the first bar of chocolate we had, so we had to bust out the second. Oopsie!).
Monday, mom and I took the train to Paris to use up a train ticket.

We went to Montmartre, and saw Sacre Coeur. Mom did a bit of shopping, and we got lunch in a really cute restaurant (where we saw a little mouse scurrying along, the guy sitting near us freaked out. It was awesome).

Then we went to La Cinémathèque Française for Logan. We took some pictures, and went inside to look around. Mom wanted to see the  INSIDE of Notre Dame (something she's never done...even though she'd seen it twice now).

After that we went over to Champs-Èlysées to visit Laduree, a famous store that sells the world's best macarons. Then we stopped in a restaurant to have hot chocolates and dessert before getting on our train back home. A very fun day!

We made sure to touch Point Zero before leaving!

On the Road Again

Went back along the wine road today. We stopped and had lunch at a really neat place, and then we made our way to Riquewhir. Wandered around for a bit, got some hot drinks and yummy desserts. Then, since it was bitter cold, we decided to make our way back home. It was a fun day, nothing too extravagant happened. Now we are just getting ready for the big week ahead of us!

Will Write Soon

I should be writing about the movie mom and I went to see and how non-hilarious it was when everyone gave us strange looks because my mom was standing there eating a bucket of stale movie theater popcorn, but I really don't feel like writing. So maybe tomorrow. I might even write about the excessive wedding ideas I've been collecting the past couple of days...but only maybe...

Let the packing commence!

Yesterday, mom and I thought it would be a good idea to see whether or not all these wonderful gifts we've bought for everyone will actually make it home in our suitcases with us. Luckily, between my carry-on and my smaller check bag, they fit perfectly. Although neither had much room left for clothes. So today I packed all my clothes into my biggest check-bag...and VOILA! Everything so far fits beautifully...now let's just keep our fingers crossed that they aren't waaay over the designated weight!

Les Bains de Lavey

Sunday, my mom had to decide between driving to Geneva, or going to a spa in Switzerland that was on the way home. She chose the spa.
After spending quite a bit of time searching for this place ( Les Bains de Lavey ) , we finally found it, and went in. This spa was a bit bigger than the one we went to in Germany. The outside pool was bigger, and had a really cool whirlpool area in the middle. They also had lounge chairs set up inside, in front of floor to ceiling windows so you could lay in the sun, without being in the cold air. They had lounge rooms, that were scented and lit differently. They had saunas (1) small one 2) bigger one and hotter 3) medium temperature...but nude) and hamamas which are steam rooms (1) women only and  nude 2) men only and bathing suits 3) menand women with bathing suits). They even had a bar. It was quite enjoyable.
After three hours here, it was time to head home, stopping in Colmar for dinner.