Amritsar--The Golden Temple

I had heard about the beauty of the Golden Temple and seen photos of others who had been. We had the chance to spend a weekend in Amritsar. The Golden Temple, the Harmandir Sahib, is the most well-known place of worship of the followers of Sikhism. While no religion can be easily summarized, I read that Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Even in the rain (yes, it rained all weekend), we felt the welcoming warmth emanating from shining temple in its golden glory.

I read that the free kitchen serves up to 80,000 meals a day:

One of the kitchens, biggest pots ever:

Enjoying the chapati:

art for art...

For the third year in a row, I visited the India Art Fair (Art Fair). Usually, I brave the crowds but this year I was lucky to secure two VIP passes for specific viewing hours. I invited my friend, Sofie, and when we arrived, we had the pleasure of leisurely walking through the three exhibition spaces...no kids in tow and no crowds to navigate. Such a fun art-filled morning. And, the Art Fair did not disappoint. With over 1,000 artists from 24 different countries, we saw a variety of provocative, interesting, beautiful or just plain cool works of art in all sorts of media.

Here are some pics I snapped with my phone:

Cool mobile:

 Painted boxes:

Cityscape made of different containers:

For my boys:

This is made entirely of...

this:

 Ambassador car covered in leather from soldiers' shoes:

the little musician...

Ever since I can remember Dorian has wanted to play the guitar. Then, just before school got out last year, he saw his friend play the violin. He wanted to play. I told him to think about it during the summer break and, if when we got back to Delhi he still was interested, I'd set up lessons. In September we started lessons and I rented the violin from his teacher. Dorian doesn't practice every day but when he does he enjoys it. After almost five months of lessons, we went out this afternoon and got Dorian his own violin.

He was thrilled:

But, I know soon he'll be asking for what is behind him!

shots from the week

The "refrizretor" van:

Line of white towels:

 Dorian and his friend contemplating the empty pool:

forest walk

It was much colder in France than we are used to...hats, gloves and puffy jackets were required. But, the weather did not keep us inside. We had to take advantage of the fresh air. So, we enjoyed a forest walk.

Looking at the map:

 Getting a stick:

Dorian gets a stick and sees horses:

He had fun counting the rings:

Sweetie pies:

 And, one more stick before we leave:

modern tradition

While walking around Paris, we decided to visit the crèche at La Madeleine church. A friend of mine had mentioned that it was particularly cool...a modern take on tradition. Here's what we saw:

Very interesting, indeed. It was created by Gaetan Duthu, a 25-year old designer and received mixed reviews by the Parisian public that has visited it. It's up for another week in Paris, if you're in the area and want have your own impression.

Holidays

We left Delhi to spend the holidays in France. It was our first Christmas as a family in Paris. The boys loved seeing all the lights and decorations (Arthur kept saying "happy diwali!"), running around in the gardens and all the fresh air. Oh, yes, and eating -- crepes, pain au chocolat, cheese,  ham and steaks. We enjoyed having both sets of grandparents with us to celebrate the holidays.

Dorian and my mom make a gingerbread house:

Enjoying the holiday decorations:

Buzz:

Too much Christmas excitement:

Merry Christmas!