En France on danse: Picture this

We've decided on a 'Year Abroad Feature Wall' for our new house, given that all 7 of us have spent the last year of our lives living it up in France, Spain, Italy and China (!). Our difficult task is to find photos that correspond to 11 or so devised categories. Here are some of mine and why I chose them...

How can you sum up a year of your life? Here's my best shot.

1) The 'really nice food' photo. Taken from our Thanksgiving meal, November 2011. Home made stuffing (bread and celery, who'd have thunk it?), sweet potato mash, corn, home made cranberry sauce, roast turkey (*cough* chicken), green beans, more mash and all washed down with bread and cheese, French style. The day before Thanksgiving, several of us spent a few hours peeling, chopping and cooking. I picked up the 3 chickens from the boucherie, dragging them home with difficulty the morning of Thanksgiving. The Americans took control in the kitchen and delivered the goods. Brilliant night- too much food and a pub quiz followed by even more brilliant leftovers.

2) The 'local festival' photo. Take one cold December evening. Take a load of language assistants. Take 25,000 other revellers all crammed into Nancy's Place Stanislas. After downing some red wine, we oohed and aahed as Nancy showed us what it was made of. We watched as the story of St Nicolas, celebrated in Alsace/Lorraine on 6 December was projected onto the buildings of Place Stan, accompanied by music, dialogue and fireworks. 30 minutes of brilliance was followed by a night out where our Irish friends taught us all to Irish dance in L'Envers, Nancy's club with its very own SLIDE. This was the life.

3) The 'city where you lived' photo. Place Stan, forever in my heart. Meeting point du jour, I'd often meet Jackie there after she finished work. Whilst waiting I'd sit and people watch.Then we'd go get food...

4) The 'funny sign' photo. Found in a cheap supermarket in Brussels. Self explanatory.

5) The 'photo from another country you visited'. Budapest, Hungary. Just too cool. Thermal baths, Hungarian folk dancing, stew, amazing red wine, Communist walking tours, ruin bars and dubstep. I want to live there.

6) The 'nice scenery' photo. Taken near Nancy's Parc St. Marie, 2 minutes walk from where I was living. I was walking back from a school trip at the end of October, just as the Toussaint holiday was beginning when I took this photo. My favourite season literally on my doorstep.