Annecy at dusk, plus Hermes makes a visit to my wardrobe

I hope you've all had an utterly fabulous holiday season thus far. After my last blog entry, I did in fact snap a few pics of Annecy at dusk on Christmas Eve, just an hour or two before the shops closed at six (and boy, was I wrong: the old town was a madhouse). This is the entry way to the pedestrian area in the old town, which currently houses the Christmas market I featured in my last post.

I just love the lights they string up across the narrow streets in France. When I was in Aix en Provence a good decade ago at Christmas, they did the same thing in the old town.

I don't buy my flowers at this shop as I find them quite pricey, but this flower shop in the old town truly has the most spectacular frontage. In the summer, beautiful floral displays wend their way up the old stone walls, and, as you can see, the loveliness extends to the holiday season.

One of the old churches in Annecy is quite lovely when lit up. A few days before Christmas it had to compete with a kids' ride.

You can just see the gold Madonna at the top.

This is another church just around the corner.

Christmas was a laid-back affair at our place. Hubby got home in the afternoon and we unwrapped pressies, then popped the bird in the oven (didn't eat until 11 p.m. so we'll dress the turkey before pressies next time).

In honour of the occasion, I wore a thick shirt by Ellen Tracy that I thrifted in Canada years ago and have literally worn only once. Since emerald green is the hot colour for 2013, I decided to pop it on with leggings and my thrifted Italian booties.

My legs look like pipe cleaners, but I wanted to give you an idea of how over-sized it is.

The silk is thick and sheeny - perfect for festive holiday garb.

I wore it with a vintage costume ring and bracelet I picked up at a local vintage store - the only one in Annecy. The bracelet reminds me a little of my Cartier love band wedding ring. The ring is kind of industrial looking.

I used to think that this Hermes "How a scarf is born" poster, advertising a 1989 seminar in London about the art of Hermes scarf making, was the closet thing I'd get to a Hermes scarf.

But guess what Santa baby bought me? I've always wanted an Hermes scarf. According to fashion journalist Dana Thomas in her book, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Lustre, Hermes is one of the few luxury fashion houses that's stayed true to its artisan roots and hasn't moved off-shore to produce its goods. Hermes scarves, like mine, are still hand-rolled and printed. I love that that tradition is still intact.

And it just so happens to go with my emerald green top!

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Tour of Christmas market and festive shop displays

Who would think it's Christmas Eve day here, what with sunny skies and 12 degree C temperatures in Annecy and surrounding area? I hope you are enjoying your day and preparing for a night with loved ones. My hubby is flying tonight, alas, but he'll be home tomorrow afternoon, so in honour of Christmas Eve, I thought I'd show you around the holiday market that's been in the old town since early December and runs until the first week of January.

The market has stalls whose vendors sell everything from gourmet goodies and handmade artisanal goods to cheap jewellery and local food. Don't let the quietness of the market today fool you. I snapped these around lunchtime, which in France is between 12-2p.m., sometimes even to 2:30, and every one was in the restaurants eating (the restos promptly close after 2, so getting a meal, let alone a snack, is next to impossible until dinner starts at 7 or 8).

This morning, after saying bye-bye to hubby, I went to the butcher to pick up the turkey we had ordered on Saturday. We're not huge meat-eaters (a sin in France), but it's custom for us both to have turkey for Christmas. The food shops were packed. As you may already know, the French take their food, and wine, very seriously. Shops are normally closed Sunday and Monday, but they were open yesterday and are open today not so much that people can run around and buy gifts - no, I'd say the main purpose is so people can buy the food they need for their holiday dinners, which traditionally are celebrated on Christmas Eve in France.

Yesterday while buying wine for our dinner tomorrow night, I said to the gent in the wine shop across the way, in French of course, that I wanted a red to go with the turkey (**dinde** in French), and also a white. When he asked what the white was to go with, I almost said in French, ``Nothing, it's to get pissed.`` But the French wouldn`t understand the concept of a person drinking wine around meal-time without food, so I caved and answered cheese, maybe the turkey too. Sometimes it is **plus facile** to pretend you have fully internalized the French ethic!

Back to the market. SPOILER ALERT: Hubby, if you are reading this, stop right now or one of your pressies will NOT be a surprise (hey, you keep telling me you prefer surprises)!! Yesterday I was thrilled to find, at the stall to the right in this pic, a women (the blond-haired one) from Quebec City in Canada selling ... Canadian beer!!! Yay! Perfect man pressie as hubby loved sampling Canuck beers when he visited. She's there until the 30th so hubby can stock up if he so chooses.

Apologies for the blur in the centre of this and several pics to follow. I took these the other day with hubby and, like an idiot, somehow managed to do what I do every time I use his camera: smudge a finger print right in the centre of the viewer!

I wanted to show you a few of the shops and restos/bars on our street as they are decked out so beautifully for the holidays. Lots of natural greenery and such. This is where we buy our jams.

One of our fave restos, literally a 5-second crawl from ours. Inside the decor is bohemian-chalet-chic, very cosy and welcoming, and the menu is good considering it's in the old town - not so very touristy that it`s utterly boring (fondue upon fondue in the old town is the norm - and can get tired quickly), yet not so wholly French that I can't eat the food (sorry, foie gras isn't my thing, nor are frog's legs).

A touristy shop but I just loved the greenery on the old arches. Parts of the old town were around in the 12th century, but these arches appeared in the 18th century, if memory serves.

Even the rubby-dub bar, where all the old gents go to get hosed (well, the drinks are cheap so we spent some time on the patio in the summer too) is all decked out.

This isn`t very Christmasy-looking, but I had to snap a pic of this wee patio as it looks so pretty and inviting.

Look - even the blue candle holder matches the cushions! The inside looks very cozy, and the menu good, so hubby and I will have to try it in the New Year.

I was going to make myself some squash soup tonight, but souvlaki is calling me, and this Greek place in the old town (for all I know, the only Greek place in Annecy) is open tonight. I used to live in Greek Town in Toronto, and boy do I miss the `hood, not to mention the food. With its blue awning, the place looks exactly like the restos I`m accustomed to in T.O.

I must dash out to buy some artisan-made chocolate for hubby`s stocking before the shops close (hopefully the crowds will have abated by now. My theory is the French are all at home just starting their cooking at this hour). But before I do here`s a peep at a vintage goodie, a gorg multi-hued velvet purse with neat structural shape, courtesy of Etsy, that I found in my box this morning. It`s under the tree and can be a pressie to me, from me. I don`t mind at all that it`s a little beat up and bought it knowing this. Perfection isn`t important to the Grunge Queen, but coolness, colour, texture and items that are just plain different are!

I may add a post-script photo or two when I return as Annecy at Christmas, at dusk, is pure magic. In the meantime, I hope you and yours have the loveliest of holiday seasons, whatever your tradition.

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Annecy Christmas & thrifted leather goodies teaser, plus then and now lake shots

Hubby's home after flying for a week, so this weekend we're in nesting mode. I have a slew of Christmasy photos I plan to take this week once he decompresses and we start venturing out, so for now this teaser will have to do. A river that runs out of Lac Annecy, which really looks like a canal, snakes through the old town where we live. Annecy is actually known as the Venice of France because of this lovely canal/river. In the summer, cafes along either side are brimming with noshing tourists, but now the bridges are all aglow with sparkly white lights. Isn't this a beautiful shot? Hubby takes the credit for this one.

IN THE FALL: Since the Christmasy pics are forthcoming, I thought I'd share a few then & now photos from a jaunt around the lake taken last month versus ones snapped a week or so ago. This concrete dock is part of a pay-only beach in the summer, but once the season closes they open the gates and let any one wander in. This is the view from the end of the dock looking back to land, with the casino on the right and a retro-looking resto straight ahead.

NOW: This one is from last week after the snow had arrived. As the sign says, there's a disco inside too. Mmm. I wonder if the French meaning of disco is the same as the English? It seems an unlikely place for a disco, but what do I know?

Looking out to the lake and the mountains beyond. I love how the concrete dock curves. You can just see a distant mountain with a gleaming patch of sunlight on its snowy peak.

THEN: Just a few weeks ago, the chairs and tables were still left out from the summer. I envisaged myself getting up every morning and strolling over with a cafe to read and bask in the sun. All the cafe patios are still open this time of year, and the French have no problems sitting outside drinking, and, of course, smoking (the latter is def the national pastime). That pole is part of a trampoline, I think.

NOW: Alas, this is one patio that has packed it in. Too bad I didn't discover it earlier in the Fall as it would have been a fave spot to hang out and dream.

THEN: Lovely potted Mums in old urns, in front of a commercial dock that, after it closes in the summer and the boat gets put to bed somewhere else, is a popular wedding photo spot.

NOW: The flowers are gone, and a mountain dressed in snow is the awe-inspiring backdrop.

THEN: That same mountain, taken from the concrete dock.

NOW: Walking home along the lakeside promenade with the sun setting against the mountain.

I don't have a then & now shot of this one but I just love this permanent carousel. Wonder if they allow grown-ups to take a spin? But then again, I get motion sickness, so it may not be pretty.

My "new" thrifted Italian-made leather boots with pull-on straps may pale in "wow" comparison to the lovely Annecy pics, but I was pretty jazzed as I've been looking for a boot with a bit of a heel, and after my recent Ugg purchase, I didn't want to pay full price (these were 18 Euro - yes, even thrifting in Annecy is relatively pricey). In fact my local thrift shop is becoming a leather handbag and boot haven - I have more from this haul to show you, once I can get organized and take some photos, along with some fab vintage Etsy purchases that I will show you once hubby takes some outfit snaps for me.

Since I haven't found an appropriate place where I can do an pre-timed outfit shot, we'll have to contend with the 'ole blurry-blogger-shot-in-the-mirror trick. I'm wearing the new booties with a cashmere sweater (bought new), a vintage Avon pendant that every vintage style blogger seems to have (which doesn't stop me from loving it), and a thrifted skirt I bought in Canada.

Have a great weekend! Are you ready for the holidays? xo

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Alpine Christmas prep

Hubby's been flying a lot but we've managed to pack in some good quality time when he is here. Last week, after (finally) getting my carte de sejours (French residency card), we celebrated with hubby - let's have this in writing, folks - offering, yes offering, to take me shopping for boots. The leather ones I bought in Annecy (new) were freezing my feet (it's a damp cold here). Hubby insisted I go the Ugg route.

I've resisted for a long time. I hate the Uggs I see every one wearing; they look like slippers to me, and besideswhich, I'm not a fan of looking like every one else. But I liked these lace-ups. Tres alpine chic and supremely comfy. I am now wearing them with everything from dresses to jeans. Still, buying new doesn't have the same thrill as buying thrift. I used to thrift practically every piece of apparel, boots included, in Toronto, and sadly, it's just a different ball game here.

Though there's been heaps of snow at higher altitudes, Annecy didn't get the white stuff until the weekend. Here's a view of one of my fave shortcuts home after shopping, behind a large church and alongside one of the canal's (really a river that runs out of the lake) little offshoots.

Even on a grey, snowy day, Annecy looks picture-postcard perfect.

Speaking of new, the coat I'm wearing was bought new a few years ago. The only thing that was thrifted here was this 1980s scarf. Not normal for me, but there you have it.

We took advantage of the festive weather and bought our Christmas tree at the market (25 Euros). Isn't it cute?

This is the final product, sitting on our dining room table all aglow.I love the two branches jutting out on either side at the top - it makes the tree look like a little alien being.

View by day, in our sweet French apartment.

I just have to show you a bit of the rest of the room, including the amazing ceilings. Our living room is huge and it's my fave room in our little apartment.

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My Thirft Gift to him

So you must be bursting with anticipation: what on earth did I get my mannie for Christmas? Several things, among them this 'gift of thrift' that I felt sure applied to his life as a pilot who travels around all the time.

It's a retro leather traveling case. Looks like it's never been used!

The case, and all the utensils in it, have "Made in Western Germany" stamped or engraved on them.

I think I may have been more thrilled about the gift than my man! I love the chrome-covered tops on the brush, toothpaste and soap holders. So sleek. So retro!

Just look at this brush. I mean, isn't it the absolute top banana?

And this razor and brush? How absolutely darling!

There was a second case, also made in Germany, that looked as though it was used, but I bought it and cleaned it up and gave it to my sweetie pie with the other one. Both were found at a thrift shop.

I just loved the sense of history and the quality, and the fact that the kits tied in however loosely to my man's life. He could use them or not - and if it appears that he's not getting any value out of them, well, I'll take 'em back!!

My little thrifting ways, btw, inspired my mannie to buy ME a little thrift gift for x-mas - his first ever!! It was a second-hand book. I think he was pretty pleased with himself. As was I!

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