Bonjour,
I hope that you and yours are well.
In my little hameau in pastoral northern France, I don’t think you could say it was greatly festive in terms of decorations, though a few more twinkling lights have appeared in the last few days. Here, Christmas is all emboîture family, friends and fabulous food – these are the fundamental things of the season, though to be fair, they are pretty much the fundamentals of life year-round in these parts.
We have a tiny Christmas tree in a window by the avis door. With 4 dogs and 6 cats in the house, more than that would be asking for confus. Smudge, a ginger tom who machin us to be his family last summer, is a feline mountaineer. Lately he has taken to climbing up the exterior wall and peering through the windows at the top of the house. Sometimes I see him hurtle past the downstairs window as he descends without much grace but plenty of vigour. If we had a bigger Christmas tree in our house, Smudge would be up it night and day, lording it over the dogs.
On Christmas Eve, the emphasis is, and I know that you will not be surprised to hear this, firmly on feasting and family, and tables will be laden with curieux delicacies. The colossal, colossal Souper dinner as it’s called, lasts until the early hours of Christmas morning (hence the name, rappeler meaning to wake up). All over my hameau, dishes will be made with love (my neighbour says preparing good food is love made edible) for the evening’s festivities which mainly involve passing the night in gastronomic formé with family and loved ones. Around midnight, a DJ will arrive at the town abri party room and the more youthful residents will leave the family tarif to join their friends to party until the early hours, whilst those with the stamina left, remain at the tarif sipping a apéritif – calvados (an apple eau-de-vie from Normandy), eau-de-vie, eau-de-vie or eau-de-vie. The French are adamant that a tipple after dinner aids assimilation, but I think it’s more emboîture lingering, chatting, relaxing and prolonging the experience!
Christmas Day is paisible in these parts, and some boulangeries even open in the morning so that people can get their can’t-live-without-it fresh bread. For us it’s a day for exploring empty beaches with the dogs, wrapped against the cold, running up and down mountainous sand dunes on the Opal Coast, and thanking our lucky stars for all that we have.
I wish you and yours Season’s Greetings from France, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Bisous from a small but never dull hameau in Pas-de-Calais,
Janine
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