For those who are old/mature/experienced enough to remember the musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, you’ll see what I just did there, but for the rest of you, you may need to refer to Monsieur Google.  The expression seemed apt, not only because of the recent Christmas celebrations, but also because I haven’t put pen to paper, so to speak, since we arrived in France several weeks ago. I thought it was high time that I  now brought you all up to speed. (or ‘la vitesse’ as us locals call it 😃)

This may well be the biggest blog ever in the history of big blogs, as I’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so please, make yourselves comfortable…

The lead up to our holiday was somewhat stressful. It’s often the case, with house cleaning and packing to do, but this time there was  added pressure, due to trying to finalise everything redundancy related, within the very few weeks that I had available before my last day at work on the 7th December and our early morning departure on the 12th. It all got done, of course, but it was manic to say the least. The result? I developed a chest infection a few days prior to our flight…grrr! .Off to the doctor, with the resulting antibiotics, ventolin puffer and cough medicine subsequently added to our already bulging baggage, along with his strong suggestion   that I should reconsider going at all, advice which fell on deaf ears. We were eagerly anticipating our first Christmas in our little French house, so how could I not go?

I probably should have listened more closely though, as I’m still not well, but stubborn as always, I’ve chosen to ignore it as much as possible. Unfortunately, it’s meant that the sound track of this holiday has been of my incessant coughing, but ‘Tant pis’, things could be a lot worse.

Our flight to Seoul was uneventful, just how I like them to be. The usual movie marathon, of course, along with a snooze here and there, meant that the 10 hour trip passed reasonably quickly. We’d hoped for a white Christmas in France,  but our wish arrived early,  as we were lucky enough to have snow in Seoul. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Incheon Airport, a luxurious, warm and extremely comfortable place to stay, en route to Paris. The snow that welcomed us on arrival, continued overnight and throughout the following morning. I have to admit that my excitement in a snow covered landscape soon changed to some anxiety as to whether our connecting flight to Paris may be cancelled due to the weather. But no, luck was on our side, the snow storm passed, the sun came out and our flight departed on time. Paris, here we come..yippee!!

PARIS

Anyone who visits Paris, could surely not be anything but enamoured. I just love it. I’ve never had a wish to live in this wonderful place, but as a visitor for a few days, a week, or even longer, this city offers something to delight everyone. A quiet corner, a smokey bistro, the glorious architecture, an avenue of trees, bereft of foliage…The French have a beautiful word ‘flâner’, which means to stroll, or amble and here, I think, is the perfect place to do exactly that. I can while away many, many hours, without stepping foot into any of the museums, galleries or tourist sights.

We only had a few short hours before our bed would be whispering to us, after a long flight, so with thick coats, scarves and gloves on, we headed out into the freezing, but clear night, to see the Christmas lights on Champs Élysée and the Marché de Noël at le Jardin des Tuileries.  We were not disappointed, not for a minute.  Paris certainly knows how to celebrate the season and on this occasion she was wearing a spectacular party  dress.

 

MONTMORILLON

Our first week in Montmorillon was wonderful. After our trip here in March, to attend the completion of our house purchase, which was followed by a whirlwind few weeks of shopping to buy cutlery, crockery, furniture, linen, electrical goods and groceries, we were looking forward to relaxing into our little home this time and just enjoying it.

We arrived to -1 degrees, fog and icy roads, but as soon as we opened the front door, we felt enveloped by the calm and cosiness. A quick trip to LeClerc for groceries and organisation of our hire car and that was our hard work done. We caught up with friends for coffee, slept in until 9 or 10am (jet lag of course, but in any case..no need for alarm clocks here!), walked to the boulangerie for our daily baguette, fed the ducks, went to a Christmas concert in the medieval church, joined in with a group of locals and sang Christmas Carols in French, read books in front of the fire…it was exactly what I required after the preceding few weeks. I needed to get well and this felt like the best medicine.

Rhiannon and Tim arrived a few days before Christmas. We were so looking forward to having them with us, at such a special time and in such a special place. They had been travelling for over a week before they arrived, having spent several days in Seoul, Copenhagen and Paris, so they were ready to stop and just be, for a week. No set plans were made, we decided that we’d just see what each day brought.

We had planned our first Christmas here for more than 6 months and, never one to overlook an opportunity to decorate for any occasion, I had bought just a few bits and pieces to make our home here ‘Christmassy’., before Rhiannon and Tim arrived. Limited by the size of our little house and aware of reduced storage, I made very good use of fairy lights and red baubles…it looked so pretty and exactly like my childhood imaginings of Christmas.

We spent our week together talking, laughing, walking, sporadic sight-seeing and, of course, sitting in front of the fire. It was one of the best weeks I can remember. Christmas Day was very cold, but with blue skies and sunshine, so after breakfast, the 4 of us went for a long walk around our town, over the medieval bridge, through ancient ‘ruelles’ and climbed the hill to the old monastery. A hot roast lunch at 3pm, a traditional Buche de Noël for dessert, followed by movies in front of the fire, we couldn’t have wished for a better day.

We were invited to afternoon tea at our friends Josiane and Claude’s house, just a 5 minute walk away. Tim and Rhiannon effectively don’t speak any French, but it’s amazing how just a few words can make all the difference.  ‘Magnifique’, ‘Merci beaucoup’ , ‘très jolie’ plus the usual ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Au revoir’ were enough to ensure a fabulous afternoon, with an invitation to visit again, next time they are in Montmorillon, whether that be with us, or here on their own.

Of course, all good things come to an end and we drove them to Poitiers to catch their train a week later, with heavy hearts. Rhiannon and Tim were continuing their holiday and heading to Reykjavik in Iceland for a few days, before venturing onto Amsterdam. I cried, of course, and so did Rhiannon. We knew it would only be a few short weeks until we would see each other again, but the ties that bind ignore such things.

Our 45 minute drive home was quiet, until we were jolted from our reverie into high alert by the sight of a wild boar running across the road in front of us. Not something we’ve ever seen before, nor are likely to again, it felt very surreal. She had 2 babies with her as well, but they, very wisely, elected to stay on the opposite side of the road. Not blessed with good looks and VERY solidly built, I’m sure Madame Boar may have been  attractive to her Monsieur, but we were very glad we hadn’t made a closer acquaintance, as we would certainly have come off second best, if we had. No photos either I’m afraid, as Mme Boar’s trotters must surely be misnamed, as she positively sprinted!!!

Je suis désolée, mais ça tout pour le moment, parce que je suis très fatiguée, alors il est temps que je me couche..

Bises