We brought a new friend home from France. He is a chien du coupe froid (cold-stopping dog), who is working valiantly to frighten away the icy drafts that try to sneak in underneath our kitchen door. With temperatures predicted to range from from -6°C to -13°C (21 to 8.6 F) on Thursday, we’re going to need all the help we can get to stay safely snug.

Two hours ago, our train was just departing Paris, and now we are settled back home, looking through our photos and getting ready for bed.

We had a wonderful two days in France with our four friends. After a quick journey through the snow-dusted countryside, we met up in the hotel and set out to taste our way through the city. After a quick stop at the Pantheon, we sat down to some crêpes at the Crêperie Josselin for our first meal together in a bustling restaurant filled with Dutch decorations and an astounding number of menu choices.

Once our bellies were filled, we caught the cramped metro to the Les Halles district. While the others admired the shelves of sweets, teas, spices, chocolates, teas, mustards, dried fruits, and pâtés at G. Detou (“J’ai de tout” – I have it all), I bought a brightly coloured insulated coffee mug at the evanescent Pylones design store.

After a few more hours strolling along the streets while some soft snow fell upon our noses, we turned up for our reservation at A La Biche Au Bois (The doe in the woods). Adrian had a goat’s cheese omelette while I had a tender fresh salmon with wild mushrooms, then stole spoonfuls of crème brûlée and chocolate cake from the others’ desserts.

The next day, breakfast was a fresh pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) dipped in steaming hot chocolate before a stroll through Luxembourg Gardens. The gardens were looking a little grim this time of year, with most trees preparing for the impending snow to soon descend upon their boughs. After a seafood lunch – I had crayfish tail and mango salad – we said farewell to Liannabanana & J who were off to watch their other friends get married in Paris.

Our final stop with Shyla & Luke was to explore the Galeries Lafayette, which were packed to the brim with shoppers. We rested our legs and revived our hearts with some drinks at the champagne bar while admiring the sparkling tree reaching towards the center of the 1912 glass and steel dome. All too soon it was time to say goodbye to our amis américains and hop back on the Thalys to home in Brussels.

Today we are in Paris celebrating Thanksgiving with our American friends Liannabanana & J and Shyla & Luke. We haven’t all been together since living in Seattle, so it is wonderful to hear their stories and catch up on their news.

Here’s my wish-list for the next two days:

• Order from a French menu
• Eat a crêpe
• Bring home some macarons
• Drink a chocolate chaud
• People watch at a cafe
• Have at least one conversation in French
• Treat myself to a croissant for breakfast

Hmmm… most of those items seem to revolve around food. Bonne dégustation.

My mum and Josef are spending four months in Europe, house-swapping their way across the continent. In July they spent two weeks in a farmhouse in Burgundy, and they invited us to join them for a long weekend. Adrian’s mum was staying with us, so we all hopped in a hire car and drove down through the countryside.

As we had the rare use of a car, we made sure to visit a few of the more isolated World Heritage places along the way – the Château royal de Fontainebleau, la Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay, and the Abbaye de Fontenay. However, the highlight for me was the Ferme du Château de Saint-Fargeau that I insisted that we stop and visit.

As soon as we walked through the door we were greeted by three hungry goats. I bent down to greet them and the white one promptly ate my map. I realised that it was best to return to reception and buy a bucket of feed. Returning with adequate supplies, they frantically ate out of my hands as if they hadn’t seen food for days. Adrian and I explored the farm further and found donkeys, piglets, calves, lambs, chicks, and ducklings to feed, then returned to the goats. They happily finished off the feed, with one little kid getting so enthusiastic that the bucket got stuck on her head until she managed to shake it off. The Ferme du Château de Saint-Fargeau may not have World Heritage status, but I still think it contributes to the common heritage of humanity.