I may not like the cold, but I do love Christmas in Normandy. The villages here all decorate their cityhalls and streets in cheerful colors, plus the towns are all lit up. The stores are also all looking especially enticing. I had to stay clear of the specialty chocolate and cheese stores in Caen because their gift baskets are too tempting. I went to one store that sold delectables like foie gras and regional cookies – I had the salesperson gift wrap everything for me so that I would not be tempted to eat everything instead of giving them as gifts.
As in the US, this is the time of year for families to get together. Last year, my husband’s aunts and cousins joined us around the table at his mother’s house on Christmas Eve. The house was festively decorated, a tree surrounded by gifts and everyone standing around catching up with each other. There were about 15 adults and 2 children. Into the evening, we were served an amazing 5-course dinner with wine. The dinner lasted for several hours and the party went on late into the evening. The kids are amazing – so well behaved!
This year was much different. Most of his family decided to celebrate Christmas in the south, while my husband and I, his sister and her family and his mother stuck it out here in Normandy. For our dinner on Christmas Eve, we roasted bird (I say bird because it was not a chicken or turkey… not sure what it was), its trimmings, cheese and dessert. Not quite the masterpiece as the year before, but equally as delicious. The only decoration was the tree, but the house still felt festive.
Juliana was awake and difficult during dinner – my husband and I passed her back and forth into each other’s arms so the other person could eat. We opened our gifts around the tree, watched my husband’s nephew play with his new toys and prayed that our daughter would not wake up. We celebrated Christmas with my family during our recent trip to Florida, so she just had my husband’s family’s gifts left to unwrap. Next year will be more fun when she can attempt to open her own gifts.
I am not used to opening all of my gifts on Christmas Eve. Growing up, we always opened one gift on Christmas Eve and saved the rest for Christmas. So the next day, it just did not feel like Christmas to me. I played some holiday music and rotisseried a turkey for our Christmas lunch. His sister returned to Brittany with her family, so his mother came to our house for some family time. We ate and took Juliana for a stroll around the neighborhood.
I prepared the movie Christmas Story to watch with my husband, since it is a tradition to watch that on Christmas day. But ET was playing on the television and my husband seemed much more interested in that. So on Christmas Day, we watched ET in French!
Chaumierelesiris says
Agree that Normandy is particularly delightful at Christmas – the lights (though can be surprising tacky!), the warm fires, the wonderful wonderful food all come into their own
French Mamma says
Ah yes, I almost forgot about the fires. I wish our house had a fireplace. However, my mother-in-law had hers going on Christmas Eve and it was wonderful. Our next place will definitely have one.
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