Christmas and the end of 2010

Hello, loyal fans! I know you have been missing me. ;) I have just been surviving the end of the holidays and the return to school (in French, la rentrée), and I have been too lazy - ahem, busy - too busy to write or take photos...sorry.

I left off at Christmas. We had Christmas with my host family, and it was a full house! It was cold and snowy outside, but very alive inside. All of the children (which totals 7!) came home, bringing along a tiny son and a special friend from La Guyane, and of course there were us two American sisters crashing the party as well. My fun-loving host family welcomed Lizzy with a French meal--escargots, pâté, and frog legs! Lizzy did not live up to the picky eater I made her out to be, and was very adventurously eager to try everything. It was a great start to the stay in Mourmelon-le-Grand. We had a lot of very good and very French food.

On Christmas Eve, Lizzy and I went to mass. After mass we came back to the family and had the traditional Réveillon dinner, starting with the "Apéro" of champagne with finger sandwiches of foie gras and smoked salmon, continuing with a meal of seafood and roast ostrich. On Christmas morning, we opened presents, each in their turn, and finally had fresh croissants for breakfast, fetched from the bakery by the middle son in his Christmas finery (a Sponge Bob Squarepants costume! Haha). It was a joyful day, the little girls were excited, everyone was enjoying themselves. I even got to try my first bûche de Noël, a traditional French Christmas log cake that I've been waiting for ever since I learned of it in French class! :) 


I had much to be grateful for. But much was missing. In a home (almost in a country?) with no religion, I was sad to witness a lack of the actual meaning of Christmas: the birth of the savior, the God-made-man. It seemed odd to me, like there was no Christmas this year. Sure, the holiday involves family, food, presents... but I missed singing Christmas carols, I missed mass in English, I missed being with family where the emphasis is on the religious holiday. Sure, we went to the the vigil mass, but as we walked home in the coldest wind and sleet, I knew I should be grateful and joyful, especially on Christmas, but I was just heartbroken and angry to be there. I did pick up three "santons" (manger scene figurines traditionally made in the South of France) while in Paris, and setting up a little manger scene was consoling--at least that felt like Christmas to me. Lizzy helped me make gold "straw" and I put the baby Jesus into the crib later that night. 

The day after Christmas, we met Emma in Reims! It was still snowy and the trains were off, so Alain very charitably drove us to the train station and even had a coffee with us there, before leaving us to wait for Emma. (A caring French host family really is a blessing and comes in handy!) We were so relieved and happy to see that Emma made it there safely! The three of us left our things in the hotel, went to mass, and went out to dinner. The next day we spent seeing the highlights of Reims: the great cathedral and the champagne cellars (we toured the house of Pommery). 


Then, off to Paris again! We had museums to see: Musée Rodin (a favorite, although it's better when the gardens are open and blooming), the Louvre (my fifth visit, I'm working on my tour guide skills now), the Musée d'Orsay (finally, I got to go back and finish seeing this lovely museum!), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (interior design items - and it had a fashion section--really cool! and perfect for Lizzy and Emma), even a (tiny) Musée de Parfum. Lizzy departed Paris, tired but full of inspiration for her new year (I hope)! I was so sad to see her go, but at least I wasn't going back to an empty hotel room--Emma stayed, and we continued our Parisian adventures for New Year's Eve (and...there were no fireworks, how disappointing). 2011 began, we made it back to Mourmelon for Epiphany, and then, la rentrée.