Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noel! With a mix of comfort and homesickness Phil and I attended Christmas Eve mass here. Instead of English, the service was in French, and instead of a small country Lutheran church, we were in a stone, centuries old, Basilica. Despite these differences, the small children still dressed as angels and shepherds and re-enacted the same nativity scene while singing the same melodies that I’ve known for 27 years.

Tonight, Phil and I celebrated like the Americans we are with giant cheeseburgers, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, and even some (over priced) Sam Adams Beer. Tomorrow we’ll open some gifts, and treat ourselves to traditional French cuisine: boeuf bourguignon and vegetables. Tomorrow will also be filled with packing as Phil and I are embarking on a weeklong tour de Germany. Hopefully I’ll finally be able to track down some good beer in Munich and we’ll get to join in on the New Year’s celebrations in Berlin! It hasn’t always been easy to be an ocean away from all of our family and friends for the holiday season, but at the same time we are incredibly blessed with the opportunity to travel and plan on taking full advantage of it!

P.S.  An interesting difference here in Switzerland we weren’t expecting was being woken up at exactly midnight Christmas day by what sounded like all the church bells in the city ringing at once.