Our Twelve Days of Christmas

Well Christmas came and went in a flash with a flurry of last minute crafting, cooking and wrapping. We just about got all the decorations out before Santa came down the chimney.


My favourite addition to the collection are these santons which are a souvenir from our trip to Provence.

Just like last year, we attended the Christmas Eve service at the American Cathedral in Paris adding a tour of the lights along the Champs Elyseés on the way home.


Christmas morning starts early in our house. Several hours before sunrise which makes for grainy but excited photos.


This year Florence figured out Christmas and encouraged by her sisters was thrilled to open all her presents as quickly as possible. For the first time India received all grown up gifts of clothes and jewellery. Slightly bittersweet as she had nothing to play with on Christmas Day. Growing up is hard to do!


We ate our second turkey dinner in a month, but with traditional British extras of bread sauce, parsnips, brussels sprouts and Christmas Crackers containing paper hats that must be worn until the flaming pudding arrives.


After reviving our traditional afternoon Boxing Day Party for our Paris friends that was still going strong at midnight, champagne having replaced the mulled wine, we spent the next day packing for a short but sweet trip to California to see our friends there.


The arrival of the Paris and London New Years were noted before we officially celebrated the dropping of the ball in New York and then just about kept awake until it was New Year on the west coast!


On the must do list while were there, was bowling with best friends, seasonal ice skating, shopping at Abercrombie, dinner at Chipotle and coffee at Starbucks. Yes, we can do most of that in Paris but it's not the same and it costs twice as much!


We got back to France just in time to mark Epiphany with a Galette des Rois. This year our boulangerie's almond filled puff pastries have been voted number one in our Département. Délicieuse!


Each Galette has a feve baked inside it. The ones from our boulangerie are local street signs. We have quite a collection as the cakes are sold all the way through to the end of January and we have to support the number one baker of Kings Cakes in Hauts-de-Seine!

Tradition says that whoever finds the feve in their slice of cake is king for the day. India won, but now it's back to reality, school and laundry. Well it will be once my broken washing machine gets fixed!

Happy New Year!