A French Christmas

This is the first Christmas in 22 years that I have not spent it with my family. There have been sick Christmases and there have been stressful Christmases, but we were always together. Even though I have spent the past few days walking around the Christmas market, listening to Christmas music and wearing my Santa socks, it still didn't feel the same. Nothing can compare to spending the holidays with my family - baking with my momma, Maw Maw's annual cook out and Christmas eve at Aunt Lynne's.  Even though I missed them terribly, I knew what I was in for when I told my parents that I was determined to experience a "French Christmas." It all began Monday when Leslie got a call from her parents informing her that they were taking an earlier train and would be arriving in Avignon 2 hours early. We had already written a long grocery list and had scheduled our day down to the minute to prepare for their arrival. However, this news came in very unexpected and we had to scramble to make up for lost time. We had to make three stops in order to get all of our groceries. The first was in the next town over but we knew it was a necessary stop because of the cheap prices. I strapped on the "party pack" (hiking back pack) and we hopped on our bikes to save time. We got all of the items from the first store and shoved them in the party pack without any problems. Our second stop was a boulangerie that we have gone to several times before and we knew it would have everything on our list. We bought three different kinds of breads and an assortment of pastries. Here, we encountered our first problem, how to transport the carefully packaged pastries without ruining them. Thankfully, Leslie had brought a band with her so we strapped the box of pastries to the back of her bike, problem solved. Our final stop was the grocery store. Leslie was smart enough to write the list in order of the aisles (we are pros at grocery shopping now). We had it through the store checking every item off our list. However, here is where is got really tricky. As we were unloading all of our groceries, we realized that we had to fit all of them in the party pack and ride our bikes home. We semi-successfully fit everything in the party pack (which weighed at least 50 pounds) and two grocery bags. We get out to our bikes and realize that there is no one we will be able to ride them home. I wasn't about to back down so close to the end of our journey, plus time was running out!! I throw the back pack on (okay, throw is a bit of an exaggeration) and shove a baguette through the pocket of my Patagonia and we walk our bikes home. It was the longest walk of my life. I couldn't even stand up straight because there was so much weight on my pack, I felt like a 90 year old woman with a hunch back. But we did it, we finally made it home with plently of time to prepare snacks and signs for Leslie's family. We showed them around Avignon then Leslie and I made them dinner while they rested from their long day of travel. After dinner, we prepared Christmas breakfast then went to midnight mass at the church on our street. It was the first time that I have been to a midnight mass, in France or the states! The church was beautiful and the architecture was more incredible. Even though there were some traditions that I didn't understand, it was still a really cool experience and comforting to know that we were all there to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This morning I woke up, pulled on my Santa socks and headed for the kitchen to put Christmas breakfast in the oven. We made a Greek-styled quiche, monkey bread, french toast bake and a fruit bowl. It was great! Not as good as momma's but it was good enough for seconds! After we had our first feast, we walked around for a few hours then came home and feasted again. I skyped with the family and opened my presents and watched them open theirs. Even though I couldn't hear 20% of what they were saying and they looked pixilated, it was so good to see their faces on Christmas day. It made me realize how blessed I am to have such an awesome family and how I can't wait to see them again soon :)