DISCLAIMER: If you couldn't tell by the title (ha....), this post is Christmas related. Yes, I know it is not even Thanksgiving yet, but this is France and we do not have Thanksgiving. So, if you have anything negative to say you can move along. :-)
So, this is Victoria's first Christmas and Auggie's first to truly comprehend what is going on, so we decided to go ahead and decorate for Christmas. Jean-Pierre is a very special person in Emilie's life and the children love him, so Guillaume wanted him to be part of the festivities. I think Emilie suspected something was going on because she found the Christmas cookies in the kitchen when she arrived. I didn't really hide them, but she doesn't eat a lot of sweets so it didn't occur to me that I might want to put them away. I made my Aunt Nell's traditional sugar cookies that my cousins and I would decorate every single year. She would make tons of cookies in multiple shapes and we would gather around the table for hours and decorate until either the cookies were all finished or we were exhausted and covered in frosting! Haha. We would listen to Christmas tunes and drink hot cocoa or coffee and we always tried to decorate the funniest or most creative cookies we could imagine. I made heart-shaped cookies into butts before it was cool.
Anyway, decorating the cookies with my cousins is a very special Christmas memory of mine so I wanted to share it with my Host Family. I actually baked all of the cookies on Tuesday night and yesterday afternoon I decorated them with Auggie. Of course, since he is only 2-years-old I did most of the work. HAH! Not that I minded... I mean, I turned on my spotify and made a cup of hot chocolate and imagined myself being back in Tiperlsville.
Regarde:
The little blue teddy bear was Auggie's specialty, and of course I roped Guillaume into decorating at least one cookie!
This morning after I left for school and Guillaume took the children to Nounou's house he drove to a town near Geneva to pick up our Christmas tree... a real one! My family always had a fake one, which I have never minded, but I am very excited to have a real one. When everyone was finally home and settled this evening, Guillaume hauled in the tree, brought up the decorations, we served the cookies, and I made my Mum's wassail! What is wassail? I am glad you asked, because it is another special Christmas memory of mine.
Wassail (pronounced "vas heil") is a hot beverage that my Mum makes every year. My family loves it and we always anticipate that first delicious pot of the season. She makes it with apple juice, cranberry juice, a bit of orange juice, and a spice pack of red hots candy, cinnamon sticks, an orange slice, and whole cloves that are infused into the juice as it cooks. After is it brewed, adults can drink it with Spiced Rum (Sailor Jerry is the best choice, if you ask me) but kids drink it without. From what I have researched, the traditional Wassail dates back to medieval times and translates to, "for your health/to good health." While I think what we make is rather close to the original drink, the original had eggs in it which is SO not gonna happen with me. I am all about sticking with tradition but some things change for a good reason. Anyway, it was customary to go door-to-door offering a cup or drink of Wassail and sing:
"Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green,
and here we come a wandering so fair to be seen!
Love and joy come to you,
and to you, your wassail too,
and God bless you and send you a happy new year,
and God send you a happy new year."
My family never went door-to-door and sang (hahahaha) but we listened to the song a lot so that counts, right? I do remember going caroling a time or two with our church when I was very young but we never offered anyone Wassail. Haha! The Rum would have been a big "no-no" in the Southern Baptist church anyway. Regardless, it was a dry county so it wouldn't have mattered whether it was to their approval or not. Not to get off topic, but I find it best to include details such as these because here in France there is no such thing as a "dry" area. You can drink anywhere except for in a vehicle, of course. French drivers already drive like they're drunk so I cannot imagine what they would be like if they were buzzed. Lord, help us all! You can even buy liquor in the grocery store here! When I moved to Florida I remember being surprised/excited that you could buy beer AND wine in grocery stores, but you still had to go to the Liquor store for the hard stuff. Not here. As I am sure you know, the Europeans have a very different view of alcohol than the Americans, so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised to see the Vodka next the cereal, or 17-year-olds drinking beer while walking home from school. Anyway, enough about booze.
I made the Wassail and even though Guillaume does not like cinnamon I think he liked it best. Emilie liked it as well but she is not used to "hot alcohol," as she put it. Haha! For me, the instant the scent started wafting through the kitchen I had a brief surge of homesickness. Not in a bad way, but Christmas with my family is one of my most beloved memories so I think no matter how old I get or where I go I will always want to be in my parents kitchen waiting for the Wassail to be ready, listening to Nat King Cole, hanging stockings, and making "Haystacks" with Mum.
So, lets return to the evening! The tree, my first real tree was probably more exciting for me than anyone else. I was so excited when Guillaume lugged it up the stairs, dropping pine needles everywhere! They laughed at my "child-like" joy but I don't care. It's awesome!
I was just waiting for Guillaume to clip the strings and branches fly out and bust the windows like in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! Luckily, that didn't happen.
I made the Wassail and even though Guillaume does not like cinnamon I think he liked it best. Emilie liked it as well but she is not used to "hot alcohol," as she put it. Haha! For me, the instant the scent started wafting through the kitchen I had a brief surge of homesickness. Not in a bad way, but Christmas with my family is one of my most beloved memories so I think no matter how old I get or where I go I will always want to be in my parents kitchen waiting for the Wassail to be ready, listening to Nat King Cole, hanging stockings, and making "Haystacks" with Mum.
So, lets return to the evening! The tree, my first real tree was probably more exciting for me than anyone else. I was so excited when Guillaume lugged it up the stairs, dropping pine needles everywhere! They laughed at my "child-like" joy but I don't care. It's awesome!
I was just waiting for Guillaume to clip the strings and branches fly out and bust the windows like in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation! Luckily, that didn't happen.
AIN'T IT PURTY?!!
The minute we started hanging the decorations my mind raced back to 1995 when my little brother, Andy, was but a wee nugget and would throw the balls on the ground just to watch them shatter. We had to hang them out of his reach or else we wouldn't have had any left! Auggie was not violent with the decorations, but instead preferred to remove them and put them on the couch immediately after we hung them on the branches. Haha!
Jean-Pierre ("Papi") helping Auggie:
Mommy and son
After it was all over and Auggie was in bed with Papi reading him a story, Guillaume, Emilie and I cleaned up the dishes and I could tell they weren't very happy. Guillaume was rather disappointed in the outcome of the night. I have told many stories about the memories I have with my family at Christmas and I think they want to have the same type of memories with their children, which is wonderful, but Jean-Pierre was rather disengaged in the festivities which hurt both of their feelings. Victoria is only 6 months old and Auggie is only two, so this is just the beginning and I think they are off to a great start, which I explained to them. I don't know anything about Guillaume's relationship with his parents, but Emilie never knew hers so I know it is important to her to create memories that they will always cherish. While the evening may not have gone the way they would have liked, I think they are starting some great traditions that they can build on for years to come. They are wonderful parents that do so much for Auggie and Victoria! It is really special for me to be here to experience this time with them, share stories and traditions, and ultimately be part of the children's growth.
Bisous,
Alli
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