I'm Dreaming of a...Cold Christmas?

Well, maybe dreaming isn't the right word for it. More like, "I'm noticing that this is not a White Christmas, nor ever a Cold Christmas, seeing as I'm wearing flip-flops and eating the lunchtime Christmas Eve appetizers on the porch."

That's pretty much how all of Christmas went this year: I was still enjoying good food with my (host) family, and the Christmas spirit was still there, but it was just different. While everything this year has been different, you notice it most when the more "special" things change. If I eat duck at school instead of tacos, I accept it as part of a different culture (honestly, though, each country should have both!!). But when something changes with a Holiday tradition, you feel it a little more. I was aching for Christmas carols and endless Christmas specials on TV.

Getting past all of that, however, Christmas was really nice. My host family took me with them to see their family (my host dad's parents, his sister, and her husband and three kids) in the South-West, about an hour North of the Pyrenées, and an hour East of the Atlantic. The week, I spent there, then, was marked by a trip to the Pyrenées for skiing (or, for me, falling), a trip to the Atlantic city of Biarritz, relaxing with board games and, of course, eating. A whole lot of eating that saw the likes of black truffles, chocolate truffles, duck, smoked salmon, oysters, yellow kiwis, leek tarts, and a chapon (the traditional Christmas roasted chicken), but what really took the cake was certainly the fig foie gras. As unappetizing as fowl liver made into a paste sounds, the taste makes up for it.

Christmas morning brought the same smiles here in France that it did back home. My host parents' 10 year old niece insisted that we scatter the presents around the room, adding a little search to make each unwrapping a little more worth it. And after each and every present, the giver and the getter shared what the French share best: two bisous, a kiss for each cheek.

All and all, I'm happy and grateful that I was able to enjoy a Christmas with so much warmth, not only in the weather, but also in the people I spent it with.

Happy New Year and à la prochaine!

Chris