Open Thread - Homesteading in France
Christmas in France
Christmas is similar to what we had in the US and different.
Around the last week of November and the first week of December, outdoor lights go up almost everywhere. Personal homes and apartments as well as each city, town and village have seasonal lighting which so many look forward.
The stores have lavish displays of foods and gifts to be exchanged. Shop windows are beautiful.
The first thing we notice is the great displays of lighting in most towns and villages even those with most modest means. Each location has a particular theme or style of lights unique for their own commune.
Our first hint of something special was when we returned to Dijon after a jaunt to shop by train. We got out after dusk and saw loops and loops of Christmas street lighting. It was simple and magical. I pulled out my camera, and poof, the lights all went out.
I stood in the middle of a cobble-stoned street and wailed my disbelief. A French gentleman came up to me and asked what the problem was. I showed him my small camera, and he answered, 'pas de souci', madame. Un moment. He went to an electrical box and flipped a switch, and voila, all the lights came on. Just for me. He came back. I thanked him profusely. And pecked him on the cheek. He smiled handsomely, and I got my shot. See the top. France at its best.
Lots of creativity goes into street lighting including the use of projected images.
Lyon Fête des Lumières
We learned by enchantment that every little town and hamlet has its signature lighting. This is not just France but also Italy. In France until recently the lights have been mostly warm white, but in Italy, Torino, we saw our first lively, colored lighting schemes.
We went for Mr. Meta's late November birthday, and found Christmas lights.
In Lyon, there is a yearly Fête des Lumières on the first weekend in December. It is an eye filling spectacle of fixed and projected lights.
Lyon Fête des Lumières
But the most magic city of all, is Strasbourg. We would gladly spend four or five days during Advent every year in this city that goes all out.
Christmas market stalls are located throughout the city in small villages. Warm white or red wine Vin chaud, is available everywhere. Its herb and spice warmth is a tonic for the cold and damp.
We have stayed on this same block three times by now. Walking is the way to go.
The best lit and fairy-like streets are alleys. Some are right out of Grimms. Even an adult can feel the sense of fantasy in human-scale delights.
Strasbourg is a bi-lingual town, owing to its location alongside the Rhine River. You can walk over a bridge into Germany, and see the French version of the European Parliament as well.
The food is a fusion of French and German with lots of sausage (wurst), choucroute, patates, pig's knuckles in dark biere, served with a Riesling beyond good.
The joy of France at Christmas is a suspension of all our troubles and willful plunge into the wonder of all the beauties we have.
Comments
Welp, the first photo was lost in the mix.
Here is the one meant for the above the fold.
ETA: The first and last photos are ours, but all others are links from images online.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
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Is that
fleur de lis painted on the streets? Or what is it?
The Christmas lights are enchanting. Really a treat for everybody to enjoy.
Here in NYC's wealthiest neighborhood, there is nary a light to be seen. The previous generation (mine) decorated their windows and balconies every year, but we are dying out. Very few of us maintain gardens in summer or decorations for the holidays.
Very few of the stores have bothered at all for many years. And the City streets and parks are minimally different from every other time of year.
I remember Holiday Season in NYC as a magical time of songs and lights and cheer. Pretty much gone well before Covid.
Profit seeking as a community's major goal and focus seems to have drained our neighborhood of everything else.
NYCVG
Hey NYCVG. Many important tourist sites have
a local character designated and little brass insignias with the representation are placed in key streets, routes or passerelles, to guide a person to the cool thing. For example in Dijon it's a Chouette (Owl). The eglise de Notre Dame in Dijon has a very famous Owl on the side of the church. You put your left hand on the relief and make a prayer or wish and it's supposed to come true.
In the photo, which I'm so glad you noticed, it is a duck foot or a bird mascot foot of some kind. It leads a walker to different stops along a course laid out to take a visitor from one thing to another. That painted one tells me it's a Christmas walk.
So sorry to hear about the lack of Christmas or holiday lights. Where's the fun? The street in front of the Élysée Theater in Paris is the home of the famous couture shops.
Baby, we decorate.
Happy Mid Winter to you and yours.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Bach-analia is my personal
Christmas celebration.
Colombia University's Student broadcasting system does a 10 day 24/7 presentation of Bach's music. Last year due to Covid it was repeats, not so great.
Usually the music for the 10 day festival has a theme and wonderful lectures. This year, don't know what will be on offer, but I've started my Bach fest already. Goldberg variations tinkling in the background as I type. Glenn Gould, the Master at the piano.
NYCVG
So nice. How great to be in
New York. Fantastic music everywhere. I hope you get good listening this year.
We are listening to David Hurwitz talking about Toscanini. He's a bit hard to take at first, but his enthusiasm is contagious. We are fans.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Glad I tuned in this morning for this . . .
So Christmas is still magical somewhere. That warms my heart.
Your photos are so lovely as well as the stories that accompany them.
Thank you sincerely!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Hi Marilyn, thank you so much. It does help to know
that there are readers out there. I do need encouragement once in awhile.
The French can have unbelievable charm and good will. But we have also seen other behavior that can darken our views.
Several friends have commented that in the last several years the egalité and fraternité have frayed and it's more everyone for themselves rather than the collective.
It has changed so fast. Our first encounters in 2010 and 2014 were so much better than we experience in the last several years.
Hoping you will find magic and peace this winter festival.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Chirstmas in Europe...
is wonderful. The whole family comes out in the cold evenings and stroll the Christmas markets sipping hot mulled wine. Great fun. Here's a couple of shots from our trip several years ago.
The markets have stalls with all sorts of products..
toys...
hats...
rides for the kids...
all kinds of food...(and drink)
it was like a mixture of Christmas and the fair.
When we get back toward normal we plan another Christmas visit to Europe. Thanks for the memories Dawn, and happiest of the holidays to you all!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Can I ask which city? The cathedral in your photos
has some of the great look of the Rose cathedral of Strasbourg and the Black cathedral of Prague.
The family strolls are some of the many things we have seen which show a cohesion of family and home.
We hope it returns in the new year.
ETA: Thank you so much for the photos. I don't have enough to convey how wonderful it can be. This helps.
Bonnes fêtes et bonne année.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
We went to many...
but these shots are from Ulm (with Europe's tallest cathedral - I think) and from the wonderful spa town of Baden-Baden. I've many more photos but thought this was enough.
Again thanks for the memories!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
On the way back from Praha (Prague) on a sleeper
we went through Zurich train station. There was a Swarovsky Crystal Christmas tree there.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Thanks, DM, looks and sounds absolutely wonderful.
though I do see the garb being worn outdoors. Our atmospheric rivers have paused long enough to shroud us in fog, and just looking out the window makes me want to add a layer even though I'm inside. Nonetheless it looks to be a very good life and holiday season.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Hey el, thanks so much.
We are on the same latitude as we were in the Pacific Northwest. And we have another inversion with fog too.
Below freezing at night and below forty during the day.
The chocolatier put me on their email list but didn't answer my shipping question. Blech.
I hope the links I posted are helpful.
Meilleurs vœux.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Xmas wonderland
Looks very festive and fun places to visit. I like to drive around and look at Xmas lights while playing fresh aire Xmas music which is instrumental only. Their silent night always gives me tears.
Thanks!
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
One Christmas was spent floating down the Danube.
Another was down the Rhine.
I would go onto the rear deck and just watch the towns in the distance, all lit up, twinkling, so you could see the outline of churches, fortresses, and on and on. I would stay up until 2 in the mornings, just taking it the lights.
You are so lucky, DM.
I had very little interaction with the locals on both of those trips, but my overall impression of the French is that the farther away you get from Paris, the better Americans are received. Hotel,restaurant, and shop staff lost their smiles as soon as I uttered my hello.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
What an exotic life, OTC.
In France the lights go up as soon as it's even remotely possible, and they stay up through 6 January, the Epiphany (Wise men and all). Trying to ban the darkness.
Funny enough, the friendliness thing at least nowadays, is almost the reverse. We were welcomed in Paris and other cities we have been to. Look a little lost? Some well-coiffed dame would stop and help us out.
In the provinces it varies quite a bit. But in many of the rural areas, strangers are treated with reticence. Many French are extremely local: mention a place twenty or thirty kilometers away, they've never heard of it.
Ironically, the people from rural areas like Bourgogne are treated horribly by the Parisians.
Joyeuses Fêtes à toi et les tiens.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Interesting about the rurals being so provincial.
I know people here who have never been to Houston. We are maybe 45 to 50 miles from the city limits. They speak of it as some faraway, exotic place like I regard Beijing or Budapest!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Dawn's Meta, though I never comment in your diaries
I just wanted to say that I read them all and to me they are very interesting as you have (to my mind at least) a distinct viewpoint of France and Europe from an American expat (is that the correct word for you and your family) perspective.
I always am in awe what work you have put into your home. I don't know how to say it without sounding cheesy, but you have my admiration and respect for the work you do on your homestead in France.
All that is left to say: Enjoy the Christmas days as much as you possible can.
bonne noel et joyeux fetes !
Mimi, yes we are considered expats. Our
first four years we had to renew our residence yearly, with time and money. This last time we were offered a ten year pass, and so have many years before another visit.
Thank you for reading, and letting me know you like my little amuse bouche.
The house will never be done. But our next project is how to get a micro station (mini or house sized waste treatment which uses ærobic digestion instead of methane and monoxide producing anærobic digestion). Very expensive, but so necessary.
Luckily, we are fairly fearless with things we need to do. It's usually the money not the project.
We are so hoping the insanity somehow passes, like a fever, and that once again we can go to Strasbourg for Advent.
My mother was Alsatian/German living in Eastern Colorado on a ranch. Her parents would put the Christmas tree in the parlour on Christmas Eve and decorate with candles just as in Germany. In the morning they six kids would have the doors open on magic.
Fröhe Weinachten!
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Thanks for the holiday light pix festivus
Getting in the mood ..
then there is this festivus for the rest of us .. long play
High QMS. Festivus, that's the one. Thank you.
In winter we have hivernal and in summer estival. French can be non-specific as well, but prettier. J'aime beaucoup, Bonnes Fêtes et bonne année.
Take care.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Thank you Dawn
for sharing the beauty of the season in the lighting and decoration of your adopted country.
Enjoy the cosiness of the holidays where you are.
Janis, you are so welcome. It's fun.
We are having an unusual sunny day with a breeze so our air quality has gone up.
It is a struggle to get fresh air on quiet no-wind days. Looking out west into the Atlantic there isn't a squall, front or anything bouncing radar saying there is any kind of fresh rain, wind or anything for the foreseeable future. Weather weirding is definitely here.
Hope all is well in your land across the sea. Dashes of red flowers among the beautiful greenery you share so often must be gorgeous.
Meilleurs vœux!
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
I enjoyed your essay,
it brought back many good memories. Yes the season can be magical, even for adults. It takes intent to try and capture and express that magic though. Gratitude and appreciation and a sense of wonder for what we have, wherever we are, seems to be a crucial ingredient for that feeling of magic. It's cliche' to say we ought to make that Christmas spirit last all year, but it would be ideal.
Thanks for sending some cheer and magic this way, wishing you a very fine holiday and all the best in the New Year.
NYCVG mentioned Bach above, I would love to attend a whole series of Bach concerts just about now. Here is a bit.
Thank you so very much.
Joyous Festivus to you and yours.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.