Imanol

This precious little boy was just 5 days old when I photographed him. He does not like being without clothes on, and even though I had the heat cranked up so high that the adults were sweating...he was just not having it! So, although I didn't get a lot of the shots that I had planned to, I did get some great ones that I had not planned. Imanol is the son of some really close friends here in France, and they asked Matthew to be the godfather! We first met Imanol when he was just one day old, and he would not wake up no matter how hard we tried. This time, though, he decided that he didn't exactly trust me and my camera. You could see him fighting sleep, and just when we thought he was finally asleep, one eye would pop open to see where I was.
This blanket was made by Bertrand's grandmother.
Don't you just want to play "This little piggy went to market..."??? :)
I see all the time when I look at other infant photographers' websites and blogs, pictures of the dads (and sometimes the moms) without their shirts on. I love the look of the skin-to-skin contact with the baby. But I have always been too nervous or shy or embarrassed (probably all three!) to ask another man to take his shirt off! Bertrand seemed to be the perfect guy to try this out with. First, he is French. It might be a stereotype, but it seems to be true for the French people that I know. They are just more comfortable with their bodies than Americans. Just go to a French beach and you will see what I mean...it is even true for those who probably shouldn't be comfortable with showing the world what they've got! Second, Bertrand is a close friend, and I have been around him many times without his shirt on (the beach in Corsica, bbq's at his house, rugby practice, etc). I am so glad I did get the courage to try these shots, because I am in love with the result!
About 2 seconds after this picture was taken, Imanol peed all over Claire's hands! Sorry Claire! :)Congratulations again Bertrand and Claire! We love you guys!

Cookie Swap

Thursday night Jen and I hosted a 'Cookie Swap' party at my apartment. We had a great group of women come and the cookies were delicious. Everyone brought 3 dozen cookies to swap. Jen even created these amazing recipe books with all of the cookie recipes.

CookieSwap - Slideshow Maker

Imanol Luc Jean Julien

Matthew became a godfather on Wednesday! Bertrand and Claire had a little boy named Imanol (pronounced ee-man-ole). We got a call on Tuesday afternoon telling us they were headed to the hospital. Tuesday night we went to bed with the promise that Bertrand would call or text us when he was born. Wednesday morning we got up with still no word! Around 6:30 am, we finally found out that Claire had been in labor for 16 hours before finally having a c-section. Both mama and baby were healthy, with Imanol weighing in at 8 lbs 6 ozs, and measuring 20 inches. Thursday we went to see them in the hospital. Here are some pictures from our visit.

Imanol - Slideshow Maker

La Fête des Lumières

Each year on the 8th of December (and the weekend closest to that date), Lyon has a huge festival called "La Fête des Lumières". You can read all about the festival (in English) here. Because of the insane crowds that this festival attracts, we decided to take the train from Clermont. We arrived Friday night around 8:30pm and took the metro to my cousin's apartment in downtown Lyon. We had a very fun raclette dinner at Chris and Elodie's apartment and didn't get to bed until almost 2am! After a quick breakfast, Chris and Elodie headed out of town. Matthew and I spent most of the day walking around town. We took a quick trip to an Asian market Chris told us about. I have been really missing sushi, so I decided I would learn to make it myself...but that will be for another blog...

Saturday late afternoon we headed "up the hill" to visit my other cousin, Sophie, and her husband, Yan. In Lyon, there are two prominent hills. One is called Fourvière, also known as "the hill that prays" because of the large basilica that sits at the top. Sophie and Yan live on the other hill, called Croix-Rousse, or "the hill that works". Croix-Rousse gets its name because of the silk workers that lived and worked on the hill. Another interesting note about the hill, and Lyon in general, involves a network of covered passages called "traboules". These passages allowed the silk to be transported from the workshops to the river. These traboules served a much different purpose during World War II. They are often credited with helping prevent the Germans from taking complete control of the area. If you are visiting Lyon, many of these traboules are now open to the public. Okay, enough history, lets get back to the lights!

So, after walking up what seemed like nearly vertical streets, and climbing stairs on a seemingly never-ending staircase, we arrived at the top of the hill just as the sun was setting. There was a beautiful view of the city, the Saone River, and Fourviere.

The next picture is of the top of a church that Yan told us about. Apparently the church was built, but never used. There was a, shall we say, breakdown in communication. A road was built directly in front of the church, which didn't allow for the originally planned staircase to be built up to the front doors of the church. The church sits empty, with its inaccessible front doors sitting 3 meters above the street level.
We walked past the church on our way back down the hill. This is a horrible photo, but it shows the doors high above the street level!

As it got dark, we walked back to that same lookout to see a garden of huge neon flowers.
Sophie was still recovering from the flu, so after walking us down the hill, they went home and Matthew and I joined the millions that had come to Lyon. Throughout the downtown area, there were several light shows that were projected onto buildings. These "spectacles" had different themes and were all set to music. It was really hard to take pictures of the shows, but here are a few to give you an idea. This particular show's theme had to do with time and the seasons.

Sunday, we had a really nice lunch with my uncle and aunt. We also had the pleasure of meeting one of Colette's cousins, Denis, who tries to come to Lyon each year for la fete. After a great weekend, we took the train back to Clermont.

A big "Thanks!" to Chris and Elodie for letting us stay in their apartment while they were out of town. :)

LyonLumieres - Slideshow Maker