an American Girl in France: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

foothills of our town spilling into the Mediterranean

Christmas Eve this year was spent in the comfort of a friend's lovely home which is situated on a beautiful foothill in our town. Typically, the French begin the Christmas celebration on the 24th, with lots of family, a big dinner, and the opening of a present or two; the rest of the gifts are opened Christmas morning. And also, typically, (and what this post will focus on) the French end the Christmas celebration, or any celebration for that matter, in the wee hours of the morning. In other words, when asked after dinner "Voulez-vous un café?" - an espresso to knock your socks off - don't look at your watch, see 10pm and think you'll never get to sleep. Say oui, merci to the lovely host, because perhaps the party's just getting started!


an intimate Christmas concert

Dinner for 15 with oven toasted foie gras, salmon 3 ways, duck, a bûche de Noël, and the finest champagne, white wine and dessert wine these lips have ever met, ended with roaring laughter over French and American Rated-R spoonerisms that I won't soon forget.

Spoonerism definition (Wikipedia): an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphems are switched. It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency.

The night started out innocently enough, with conversation around the fireplace, and pictures by our friend's big, beautifully decorated tree. We were even treated to an intimate concert by some of the family members who dazzled us with sounds of the clarinet, baritone horn and piano. What a delight!

So dinner was done, and I thought well what a nice evening that was. I guess we'll sit around and talk for a while. Nope! Children began putting away tables and chairs and I thought how nice that was, to help out the hostess like that. But why are they so excited about this task? I wondered. The host's brother whom I'd had polite conversation with throughout dinner, got up, plugged his iPod into the stereo, and completely transformed into DJ Mix Master. With the volume at club level, I heard the first few notes of Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO, and knew we were in trouble! Every day we're shufflin'...

Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO

Can you shuffle?

A Family That Plays Together Stays Together

For the next couple of hours, high heels were kicked off, sleeves rolled up, and we all worked off dessert. Man this family could dance! Everyone from the teeny-tinies to grandma and grampa were rockin' around the Christmas tree. Melting in my Christmas red sweater, the hostess came to me and said, Oops, I forgot to tell you that we'd be dancing! Layers...always dress in layers, I thought. You know this! It's a cardinal rule of growing up in Maine.

DJ Mix Master and his iPod pumped us up with an electrifying blend of American and French music. Only every once in a while did he give us a chance to catch our breath with a slow song.

Some French classics that I didn't know came on and the family went nuts. Singing in unison at the top of their lungs, often in a big circle holding hands, it was clear to me that a family that plays together stays together. This was definitely not their first time doing this. They seemed to fall into a comfortable rhythm as they created new memories on this Christmas Eve. Dads dancing with daughters, the hostess dancing with one of her twin girls, cousins cuttin' a rug, and the DJ, a father of teenagers, twirling his elegant mother around the floor. What an image. Everybody was having a great time!

the foothills provide a beautiful backdrop

This one song came on and they all joined hands. I clearly had no idea what was going on, but the grand-père grabbed my left hand and one of the grand-mères grabbed my other hand and we danced round and round in a big shape-shifting circle, switching directions only when Vincent would yell Tournez! Super fun craziness took over as one part of the dancing circle would charge and crash into the opposite side of the circle. This went on until I thought I would just die of laughter. What a great feeling.

We actually didn't get home too late - I think it was around midnight. It could've been much later..believe me! So remember, if you're ever lucky enough to be invited to one of these French gatherings, dress in layers, bring a gift for the hostess, and say yes to the espresso. I promise you'll have a rockin', good time!

I'll leave you with a couple more pictures of the area.

Happy New Year, everyone!!