Un Noël Français (A French Christmas)

Happy New Year everyone!! My horoscope prediction for this year tells me that my hard work will pay off and my love life will only be so-so (figures, with French boys all around). All in all it’s supposed to be a good year but I wonder if they ever tell you you’re going to have an awful year? Anyway…

I’m going to jump back a bit and regale my Christmas stories. Christmas with my French family was nice. We went to a big Christmas Eve dinner at Alain’s parent’s house where I enjoyed foie gras, smoked salmon, some other delicious meat, vanilla crème, chocolate mousse, and some other type of cake. There was lots of wine, of course. And a salad, too, so that we all wouldn’t keel over from a heart attack just after finishing the meal. It had snowed TONS and we almost didn’t make it home because they grandparents live at the bottom of a hill which happened to be completely iced over. We made it back safely. The family went to Caroline’s sister’s house Christmas day but I opted to hang out with my friend Gillian and his family. We ate gallettes (which are like crêpes but different) and they were delicious. After that we hung out with some friends and I went to bed early so I could pick up my mom at the airport in the morning.

Our time at the airport turned out to be quite an adventure. The plane was a little over an hour late because it had to be de-iced before take off in Atlanta. Fine, no worries. Then the baggage was slow to come because of some “local problem” at CDG (the workers were hungover from Christmas parties). But finally we learn that Delta did not put my mom’s bag on the plane at all. They would not be here until the next day! In fact we finally received her bags four days after she arrived. Ahh, the joys of traveling.

However we embarked on our trip south happily. First was Avignon. We rented a car and took trips outside of the city, too. We visited Pont de Garde, the roman aqueduct and the Roman arenas in Nimes. Avignon was quite quaint by itself and we had a fun time exploring the little streets.

Then was Aix-en-Provence, which I hear is a lovely little city. I don’t really know because, about 30 minutes after arriving at the hotel, I realized I had contracted a stomach virus and spent the next 35 hours in our hotel room. Fortunately, my mom had given us a little Christmas treat and had booked us into a 4 star hotel just in this city. I took full advantage.

Finally we left for Marseille. After a week of traveling, we were pretty tired and out of curiosity. Also, I was still fighting to keep food down, which can be quite tiring. Our plan was to visit Chateau D’If one day but it happened to be closed the two days we were there. So we milled around and Mom shopped for a pair of boots. We had a fantastic NYE dinner (veal and morels with a fantastic point noir—O M G) then, like the old souls that we are, went back to the hotel and went to sleep. For our last day, we day tripped out to St. Tropez, a tiny little town used by the rich to park their yachts. It happened to FABULOUS weather. 10C compared to the normal 1C!!!!! I unzipped my coat!!! Glorious. The next day we headed back to Paris. We lounged around the house getting packed and ready to go. My mom was a huge hit with Zoe because she taught her how to play the piano better.

Monday rolled around and it was back to the daily grind here in France and back home for my mommy. In fact, my family has a rough week coming up. While we were away, my uncle told us my grandfather’s condition took a turn for the worst. We don’t expect he’ll be with us much longer. I would appreciate it if you kept my family in your thoughts this week. Thanks.

So, Happy New Year Everybody!! More stories to come soon!!
In process for uploading pictures, will be available soon.