Top 12 things I love about Christmas 2011...#7

#7 Dinner at La Table de Thierry


Eating dinner at Thierry's is like being his special guest and eating in his home.  Over the years we have really enjoyed taking the children with us on occasion and having a nice meal.  Thierry now knows what each child likes from their entrees of escargot to making sure he has enough whip cream to go with their favorite dessert, chocolate mousse.  Lauren's favorite part of the meal is Thierry's aligot, a creamy, cheesy, wonderful puree potato side dish that goes great with whatever delicious main course he makes for the evening.  Normally, we have confit de canard (duck) but this night we were treated to veal.  I am not sure whether the children have had veal or not since I don't cook it at home, but if Thierry was cooking it, they were willing to try.  And they loved it, every bite.  It has been a pleasure to watch my children blossom in so many ways, including in their food taste and comfort with speaking french.  We were all right at home at the table of Thierry.

Top 12 things I love about Christmas 2011...#8

#8 My Faux Christmas Tree and New ornaments

This Christmas I decided to go really simple with my decorations.  Our first year we had a live Christmas tree decorating disaster so the following year I purchased an artificial tree.  It has been easy, peasy since then, just take it out of the box, fluff up the needles, string the lights and add a few ornaments.  It is not a spectacular tree in size by any means, but it does keep its color, shape and didn't need watering while we where out of town.  Of course it also doesn't have that Christmas smell, but that's what candles are for.

I have learned that there are few traditions and things that I am used to that have been tweaked since living here in France and the best way to handle that is to just roll with it and adapt.  At least we were able to keep one tradition and that is singing "Silent Night" by the Temptations after the last ornament was hung.  Daniele was in the US when we decorated the tree and called just in time to sing with us.

As far as ornaments go, I was able to pick up a few new ones on our Christmas vacation and this is my favorite one.  Hand carved in crystal it reads "2011 Joyeux Noel the Gray Family".  I purchased it at christmas market in Riquewihr, France along with a few other items.

Top 12 things I love about Christmas 2011...#9

#9  Days off

And after a week on the road just before Christmas, it was nice to sleep in our own beds with no place to go.  Lazy mornings, PJ days, breakfast for lunch, late night movies...what's not to love about Christmas vacation!  Besides, it gave me time to catch up on my blogging :)

Top 12 things I love about Christmas 2011...#10

#10  Christmas Concerts at school and church

These are two other annual events that we have enjoyed over the past 4 years.  This year, John and Maya sang with his 5th grade class, "All I want for Christmas".  Maya did an excellent job leading the song.

I participated in the International choir as we sang favorites like "Silent Night" and "Jingle Bells" in french, english, spanish and german.  The highlight was when a group of parents greeted the audience by saying Merry Christmas in their native tongues.

Lessons and Carols service at church was different this year, but still very nice.  The choir was all female and the service was held in the morning.  I participated in the choir again.  Our interim priest, Father Ted led the children in singing "Go Tell It on the Mountain" while playing the banjo.  

These traditions and activities are not particularly french or american, but are international and vary each year according to the participants and audience.  Just another wonderful thing about this expat experience, we all have something we can contribute and it adds to the unique flavor of our celebrations and holidays that we have in common.

Top 12 things I love about Christmas 2011...#11

#11  Couronne de l'Avent

Each year the parent association at the children's school hosts a workshop for parents to make and decorate couronne de l'Avent or Advent wreaths and then the wreaths are then sold as a fund raiser.  This is my second year participating in this event.  

We start with baked french bread in the shape of a wreath.

Then we cover it with fresh cuttings from christmas trees and tie it down with nylon string.  

The last and final stage is to decorate the wreaths with ornaments, bows and candles.

The reason why I love this event so much is because it gives me the opportunity to work with the other moms of the school, French and International.  Last year I met several ladies that I have continued to work with on other projects and have gotten to know better.  And since my french is constantly improving, I am better able to participate in the conversations that swirl around as we made the wreaths.  There was the usual talk about about raising teenagers in this Facebook age, Christmas plans and anxieties, favorite recipes, etc.  The fun part was I was able to follow along whether the conversation was in french or english, and it went back and forth.  The funny thing is, now that I have a decent level of french, when some of the ladies speak in spanish, I can even pick up a few words.  I have certainly come a long way baby!

This event is a great way for me to express my creative side and speak french.  Of course I later purchase at least one of the wreaths that I make since I make some to match my decor!

Top 12 things I love about Christmas 2011...#12

I have truly enjoyed this holiday break, spending time with family and friends.  It is a bit bitter sweet since this will be our last Christmas in France, but it certainly was relaxing and fun.  We were able to take a vacation visiting Christmas markets in Freiburg, Munich and Fussen, Germany and Riquewihr,France.  Along the way we visited with friends, toured a concentration camp and toured two castles.  We were in search of snow and found it, if only for two days.  Talk about full circle.  We took a similar trip our first Christmas here in 2008.  Christmas in Germany is the absolute best, between the food, the snow, the charming villages and the warm people, it was a great place to start off our Christmas vacation!

So without future ado, here are the Top 12 things I love about Christmas 2011!

#12  Christmas Cookie Swap
The 3rd annual event was the biggest yet and had the bonus of holiday games.  It is always great fun for us ladies to come together and share cookies and cocktails and just start the season off with a little cheer.  The actual baking of the cookies is a bit stressful since it is still difficult to find some of the ingredients that we are used to in our home countries to make some of our favorite recipes like cream of tartar or peppermint oil.  But we just got creative as usual and improvised.  One made cupcakes, another truffles, and the smartest of us all traded a batch of cookies with the resident expat baker for a nail party for his daughter!  Every cookie was not perfect or the most beautiful, but they were delicious and we had a wonderful time playing charades and pictionary of holiday movies and songs.