Candy and CoCo's Most Wonderful Christmas

     I am trying to soak up all the experiences possible in this my first Christmas in France.  While I did not attend the traditional "Reveillon" - Christmas Eve Mass followed by a huge dinner - I did enjoy eating mussels, salad, cheeses and bread at H and G's, along with a wonderful fruity "Buche de Noel".  That is a log-shaped cake that is always eaten in France at Christmas.  I suppose it is France's culinary version of the yule log burning tradition of old England.  I prefer the French version, merci beaucoup!
     H and G and I enjoyed hot tea after our meal and opened the presents that we had bought for each other.  I gave G a couple of books that I had told him I liked, "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet and one of Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti novels which are all set in Venice.  They have a wonderful library here at the gites so I also bought some books on Eleanor of Aquitaine for their "bibliotheque".  I gave H some  l'Occitane hand cream, a set of cat stationary, note pads, calendar, etc and I made her a lavender sachet from the plants that are outside my patio.
     They gave me a box of yummy praline chocolates and lovely blue (my favorite color!) towels with my name embroidered on them!  As always with time spent with H and G, we had a great visit.
     Yesterday the 3 of us went down the road to Elaine and Tony's house that they are still in the process of modernizing.  We were met by their 2 dogs, Preston the Great Dane, and Tess the Stafford mix.  They were very happy to see us!  The house was decorated so beautifully!

Elaine was so busy trying to get everything ready that we all chipped in to help in whatever way we could.  This was a meal fit for royalty as you will be able to see in the photos!  Absolutely wonderful!  (That may have been why the dogs were so happy to see us.  They knew there was food involved with our visit and they would get leftovers!)  Tony got into the festive spirit by showing up dressed as the butler!  He is quite the character.  G and I called him Giles (and Manuel, for those of you familiar with "Faulty Towers") for most of the meal.

Elaine was busy with preparations.  That's H and G with her in the kitchen.

A large kitchen prep table is a must at Christmas!

"At your service, Madame"

     It was not just the flavors and textures of the dishes, but also the presentation.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

First Course: Amuse Buche appetizers with salmon three ways

Second Course:  a Stilton mouse with watercress and pears poached in red wine

Main Course: Roast turkey, potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, beets, and 3 stuffings

Fourth Course:  Desserts - a lemon custard, chocolate chestnut cake and vanilla bean ice cream

     There was supposed to be a final cheese selection (the French always have cheese AFTER the main dish) followed by the Buche de Noel.  But we were stuffed!  Elaine and Tony will bring the cheese over to H and G's tonight and we'll have that with toasted bread slices and the Buche de Noel.
     My contribution to the evening was a bottle of Floc which is a local sweet wine and some of my English toffee that I make every Christmas.  We sat around for a few hours after dinner by the fire and visited and laughed and joked and really enjoyed each others' company.  It was a Merry Christmas!  (Although I missed Andy terribly)
     I hope your day was wonderful spent with friends and family and food and lots of love!  I am so thankful to have all of you in my life and for your continued support and encouragement for me and this journey that has led me to this little corner of France.  
     Thank you!  Merci!  May the Spirit of Christmas stay with you all year long.  Until next year . . .

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

     Everywhere I go!  I love this time of year.  The darkest time of the year lit up with all the Christmas and holiday decorations.  I am enjoying experiencing Christmas for the first time in France.  Although there's no snow here and I do miss that, but this region doesn't see much snow and therefore is not prepared to handle it.  So it's probably for the best that the snow stays in the mountains - which are only a couple of hours away.
     I just got off the phone with Andy who told me all about the winter blast that Colorado Springs received this weekend!  Brrrrrr . . . .  wish it could just snow and not be cold!  The nice weather here means that I have been out visiting village churches and decorations and markets.  Every little town has lights and trees and nativity scenes and lots of decorations.  They have special masses and carol singing services.  The markets are complete with hot spice wine and roasted chestnuts.  It's like walking into a Currier and Ives Christmas card! 
     I thought I would share with you a few of my latest outings that are Christmas related.  Last Saturday I went to the Chateau de Lavardens which is nearby to see an exhibit of santons.  Many generations ago the santon were carved out of wood and hand painted to represent the people in the nativity scene.  But French nativity scenes are so much more than the stable with Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, shepherds, wise men and a few barn animals.  Nativity scenes here are an entire town - far beyond the stable.  You have all the local merchants and their wives and children and the village buildings, etc.  It's like they take the stable scene from the Bible and put it in a 17th or 18th century French village!
     Today, there are still craftsmen who carve the santons, but most of the ones you find around here are molded from clay.  They are still hand painted.  They come in all sizes from just an inch or so tall to larger ones that are around 10 inches.  Here are some photos I took of the exhibition which was spread throughout 4 large rooms in the chateau.

The larger ones are really elaborate

Here you have the hunter, the woodsman and the old lady who gathers the wood

I especially like the artist

Here is one of the examples of the entire village!

And another one - I spent hours looking at each village!

And here's yet another one - taking up an entire table.  You could buy the figurines.

I fell in love with this little black nativity family

     Last Sunday I visited a small village called Montaut les Crenaux as I wanted to see the 12th century church there which the guide book said was worth a visit.  The town itself was walled and gated during the Middle Ages, but with the all the wars in this area over the centuries the walls and gates were destroyed.  But not the church! 
     I was so happy to find out that I just happened to pick the day of the Christmas market.  CoCo and I wandered around for quite a while enjoying the nice weather and the booths and merchants and also seeing the wonderful little church.  Here are some photos of that day's outing.

Inside the 12th century church in Montaut

The simple nativity scene inside the church

One of the Medieval streets in Montaut

Looking up at the church tower

     Last night I went with H and G and their English friends, Elaine and Tony, to the 12th century church in our local village for a bilingual caroling service followed by hot spiced wine and pastries!  What a lovely time we had!  Here are some photos I took last night.

The front of the church of St Pierre

A view of the altar inside

The plaque telling of the history - starting in 1190!!

A (blurry) photo of the nativity scene inside the church

A photo of the amazing ceiling and the choir loft

     As I sat there singing favorite Christmas carols in French and English I thought about the 800+ Christmases that this church has been a part of and all the people who have sat or stood where I was and sang similar carols to honor the birth of the Christ child.  It gave me chills - in a good way!  One of the many things I love about France - the layers of history that one finds everywhere.  You don't have to be Catholic to appreciate the beauty and reverence that these churches represent.  We are just another layer in that history.
     Today I needed to see the mountains so I took off on my favorite route towards the Pic du Midi.  Along the way I stopped to take photos of the roadside statues and monuments which I have come to affectionately call "Christ on the Cross Roads".  (See what I did there?)  It's nice to have a physical reminder that someone is always looking out for me on this journey of mine which has brought me to this corner of France at this moment in my life. 

     And then there were the mountains and their majesty!

     Next week I'll tell you about how I spent this first Christmas in France.  Until then, I hope you are all enjoying the week leading up to this very special holiday.  Try to enjoy it and spend the weekend with family and friends doing things you love and celebrating Light coming into the world at the darkest time of the year.  Merry Christmas.  Joyeux Noel.

My little santons nativity scene and the reindeer that Cindy sent me

Road Trip Part 3 - The Zoo

     I hope you don't mind that I have spread out my road trip info and photos for 3 weeks now.  I crammed so much into those 2 full days that it seemed easier to separate the adventure according to themes.  Part 1 started with the Middle Ages, Part 2 continued with the Renaissance and now we come to modern times and one of the "most beautiful zoos in the world", le Zooparc de Beauval.
     It was a chilly overcast day when CoCo and I arrived at the zoo.  I bundled myself and her up as well as I could and put her in her little bag and we entered a wonderful land of animals of all kinds - 8,000 of them with more than 600 different species!  The zoo has done a wonderful job of creating a kind of forest that you walk through and I'm sure in the summer months it must be absolutely beautiful with all the trees, plants, shrubs and flowers.  It is really lush! 
     The zoo sits on about 70 acres and is well laid out.  They are still adding more and better areas for their animals.  They are one of the few zoos anywhere in the world that has giant pandas.  And I've never seen manatees outside of aquariums.  They have six of them!  My Cheyenne Mountain Zoo friends will be interested to know that the Zoo de Beauval is active in the Species Survival Plan for Europe and their zoo has over 400 births a year to be able to help out with that very needed plan for endangered animals.
     I saw so much that I don't really know where to begin.  So I guess I'll just start with the order of my photos.  And, of course, I love all the babies!  Rhinos and giraffes and zebras.  Most animals were inside because of the cold weather.

     

     They have animals I've never seen before, like this adorable "Bat-eared fox"!

     And three species of tigers - a white Siberian, Bengal and Sumatran.

And then there were the penguins and sea lions!

     And they have three lion cubs - two males and one female - just like my babies back home!  And almost the same age.  I was so excited to see them along with their handsome daddy.

The boys just hanging out -  like daddy

All three babies!

     I wish it had been warmer so the primates could have been outside enjoying their huge playgrounds - one for the gorillas, one for the orangutans and one for the chimpanzees.  As it was they were all stuck inside.  But had really nice indoor enclosures.

The Gorillas' outdoor playground

The Chimpanzees outdoor area

Inside with one of the babies - they have 7 under the age of three!

One of the two magnificent silverback males

A play area for the younger gorillas

Also part of the gorilla house.

The giant aquarium with giant fish!

And Manatees!

           The chimps and orangutans were in a different building across from the gorillas and the aquarium.

It's a long time since I've seen chimps.  They are always entertaining!

The juveniles were having a grand time!

The Oran's indoor exhibit - nice and warm in here!

    The stars of the zoo seem to be the giant pandas.  The zoo created a whole new exhibit area which is really beautifully decorated, just for their two pandas.

In the China area

And here he is!

They are amazing to see in person!

     Some of the animals prefer the cold so they were pretty happy outside.  Although I do think the macaques were a wee bit chilly as I watched them huddle together for warmth!

The snow leopards were playing

The pumas were prowling

     At one point in the day, I decided to get some lunch at the only zoo restaurant that is open in off-season.  (They have four or five restaurants and many more snack areas on the zoo's 70 acres which are open only during the busy season.)  Eating at a zoo in France is very different from eating at a zoo in the US.  No hotdogs or hamburgers for the French.  There was a "menu" which means for a set price you get your choice of main dish, one side dish and drink (plus dessert and coffee for a small extra fee).  The main dishes offered were braised beef tips in wine sauce, turkey cutlet in cream gravy, grilled spicy sausages.  The side dishes were orzo with asparagus tips, green beans, or french fries.  Drinks were sodas, juices, wine, beer, bottled water, hot teas (iced tea does not exist in Europe!) or coffee.  The desserts were different pastries and tarts or a plate with cheese and fruit.  Oh my!!  In case you're wondering I chose the beef tips with the orzo and a coke.  But no dessert this time.
     The zoo was really wonderful.  I'd like to return when the weather is warmer!  But it was a fun experience and I'm so glad I went.  And I'm glad you have decided to join me on all these adventures.  Next week I'll talk about Christmas in France and share with you some photos of the outdoor Christmas markets around here.  They are "magnifique!!  Until next week!  Merci!