Saturday 12/24: Christmas Eve in France…

Ah, how lovely it is to sleep! I could probably have slept longer, but I didn’t want to waste my whole day, so I got up when my alarm went off at 11:30am. I walked over to Chantal’s house to feed her cat and it was really chilly outside! Finally it’s sunny, but it’s really cold! I’m glad, though, because it feels more like Christmas.

When I got home, I made scones for our brunch. Candice came down and we made a fruit salad as well and then enjoyed our feast! Due to my cold, however, I couldn’t really taste the food. That was tragic as we had clotted cream! Sigh…

Photo: Christmas Eve brunch!

Photo: Clotted. Cream.

After brunch, I moved all the furniture off the pool patio in the backyard and we walked on stilts! I went first to show her and managed to walk all the way around the pool (in some spots it’s only about a 1 ft gap) without falling in.

Photo: Candice learns to walk...

Then Candice got up and carefully took her first steps while holding on to my hands…it’s the weirdest feeling when you first start. It’s like re-learning how to walk! She did pretty well and managed to walk several times back and forth while holding on to the fence. She didn’t fall in the pool either, although at times it seriously looked that that might happen…

After tiring ourselves out on the stilts, we biked across town to the supermarket to buy groceries for dinner and for tomorrow’s dinner. We had a pretty good time wandering the store, looking for all the things we needed. The bike rides to and from were lovely (even if it was pretty chilly) as it was sunny and blue skies! On our way home, we stopped at a boulangerie to pick up a baguette for dinner.

Of course Dunja was very excited to see us when we got home and we figured that she deserved a walk after having been cooped up inside for most of the day. I enjoyed sharing my beautiful stroll though the nearby woods with Candice, even though the trees aren’t as colorful anymore. Dunja was beyond excited to be out sniffing everything.

When we got home, I starting a nice fire and we spent some time reading and drinking tea. We both skyped for a little while and then prepared our Christmas Eve dinner: baguette with pesto and mozzerella or brebis (sheep cheese) and a salad with tomatoes! A red and green themed dinner! :) I could taste it a little bit…

Photo: Candlelight dinner!

This evening we cozied up on the couch with bowls of vanilla ice cream, topped with cinnamon-baked apple slices and whipped cream and we watched “Miracle on 34^th Street”—the classic one, of course!

And, so as to not part with tradition, I had to read “The Night Before Christmas”…

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"