It was unlike any other company parties we had previously attended. The theme for the year was the Caribbean. (Nothing too out of the ordinary there since we had had Lobsterfest with a Caribbean theme at our company back in California.) What was different was the costumes. First of all, let's ignore the fact that there were a lot of Hawaiian/Polynesian-style grass skirts and coconut bras at a Caribbean-themed party - the Europeans didn't seem to know or care there was a difference. The next "wave" of costumes were the pirates. (Nothing says Christmas like pirates, by the way..."Ho ho ho....Arrrr!") The pirate costumes included our facilities maintenance technician dressed in rather convincing pirate-wench-drag. Next, came the completely odd-ball costumes: an alligator (again, I wasn't aware that there are alligators in the Caribbean), a giant banana, and a purple-wigged mermaid (which was a pale, be-freckled guy in a very tight mermaid costume). To add to the debauchery, there was loads of alcohol and a techno dance floor where people were gyrating and jumping up and down. This year was supposed to be a little calmer than previous years. The party this year was supposed to end at 2 am; people were apparently upset because it historically has ended at 4 am. Due to both of us having had long weeks, we left a little after 11 pm.
The next day, Saturday, we had the biking group over for a beer tasting. Ken gave a lecture on how beer is made, and we supplied a variety of commercial beers to compare, in addition to ending with the piece de resistance: Bolton Brew. It was a pleasant afternoon with interesting discussion and good food and drink.
Sunday, we went to the Marché de Noël in Neuchâtel. The Christmas market concept really started in Alsace in France in the 1500s, and one of the most famous and oldest Christmas markets in Europe is in Strasbourg. However, nowadays Christmas markets are ubiquitous although the size and quality varies. The Christmas market is supposed to be where you can complete all your holiday shopping. Primarily, the market includes wares from craftsmen and artisans or local food/drinks (produits de terroir). In the Neuchâtel market, which is pretty small, we saw hand-made wooden toys, candles, puppets, jams, wines, sausages, ocarinas (yeah, those fat whistles on a lanyard), hand-knit sweaters, and giant metal bird lawn sculptures. We did try a couple different wines from some of the vendors and enjoyed walking around the market. Afterwards, we split the traditional spiced vin-chaud (hot wine) as we walked back to our apartment in the rain.
The rain signaled that a "warm" front had made it's way into the area. Temperatures climbed to the mid to upper 40s during the week, and all the snow had melted by the end of this week. Only at the end of the week did the frost reappear on our windshield in the morning.
After all the activity last weekend, we took it easier this weekend. However, we did start off Friday night with drinks at the Café du Cerf (the Irish pub) to send off a co-worker that is moving back to the US. Due to the long week, we both probably drank more than we should have, but we had a good time and enjoyed singing along to the band playing classic rock songs for a good portion of the night. The rest of the weekend was really just sitting in our apartment with the cats.
Lessons learned:
1. Don't park in the middle of the parking lot at the Christmas party. You will be blocked in.
2. In Switzerland and eastern France, there are two different old guys that have white beards and bring you presents: Père Noël and St. Nicolas. St. Nicolas comes on December 6, and Père Noël comes Christmas Eve. For anything big, you'll want to ask Père Noël, however, because St. Nicolas puts your presents in a boot you leave outside your door and usually sticks with small stuff like tangerines and peanuts.
3. Apparently, the Boltons talk too much in the car because they are finding a layer of ice on the inside of their windshield in the mornings. Needless to say there is a debate between us about who is breathing too much during our 5 minute commute.
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