Christmas in a Traditional Way

Our first Christmas in Paris was such a memorable time of the year.  Winter was approaching and I never realized that Paris got so cold.  As a matter of fact, to my surprise it snowed in early December.  It wasn't a heavy snow fall but nevertheless, the City of Lights was blanketed overnight with a layer of white wintry snow.  

Coming from Virginia, we were accustomed to snow but it was quite unusual for snow in Paris. To our dismay, the Parisians seemed delighted and fell into stride and never missed a beat, the daily local shopping, and the hustle and bustle of transportation never lost momentum.  Once the snow melted the city streets looked a little cleaner and fresher and seemed to be a breath of fresh air.

Christmas was a week away and all of our schedules were busy. On a brisk Saturday morning we decided to get into the Christmas mood so we headed out into the city to find a Christmas tree lot.  Sure enough not far from our Rue du Bac apartment was a very festive area where trees were being sold.  The fresh air combined with the scents of evergreen, cinnamon and holly was overwhelming and surely enhanced our Christmas spirit.  

My Father and I pulled tree after tree out for my sisters and Mother to inspect  but very few passed the test, finally we found the perfect tree and we carried it home.  We lived on the second floor of the apartment complex and maneuvering the fluffy tree up a narrow staircase was not an easy task but with perseverance we managed.

Because our apartment was considered an historic residence, placing the tree in the living room was out of the question so the most likely place was in the formal dinning room.  The dinning room had floor to ceiling window doors that overlooked the street below.  This ended up being the perfect spot because once it was decorated with ornaments and lights you could clearly see it from the street level below.

Throughout the week we did our Christmas shopping at the local department stores of Primtemps, Samaritan and the Au Bon Marche.  At night it was especially beautiful and festive.  Christmas was in the air all around the City, stores, markets, apartments and parks were decorated and lit with colorful Christmas lights.  

Although we were far away from our family and friends in the United States and we wouldn't be celebrating in our accustomed traditional way, we embraced our surroundings and continued as a small happy family in Paris.

On Christmas eve we decided to make it as festive as possible.  As the U.S. Ambassador my Father and Mother were invited to several holiday celebrations and so they made their diplomatic appearance but returned home before it got too late. We were invited to attend midnight mass at church where one of my Father's staff members was a Choir member and was participating in their Christmas special.  We had never attended church on Christmas eve but we all decided it would be a memorable event. It was a very cold evening and it felt like snow in the air so we bundled up and walked through the city and made our way to the church.  It was truly a remarkable performance.  The choir was made up of friar monks and they performed authentic chants that encapsulated our spirit and soul. The sound of the monks voices resonated throughout the church taking advantage of the acoustics created within the Medieval architecture and design. 

We celebrated midnight Christmas day in a French Medieval church. It was ominous and the most joyous moment for all of us.  On our walk back home we talked about the performance as we enjoyed all the little shops still lit and decorated.  We were cold and hungry.  We stopped at a local Creperie that was still open.  Inside it was dimly lit but it was warn and cozy. 

We ordered different types of crepes to share, some stuffed with ham and cheese, some with powdered sugar and others with chocolate.  Since we were still cold from walking outside we decided to order hot cider figuring it would take the chill out of our bodies. 

We never drank hot cider before but it was so good and the more we drank the happier we got.  What we didn't realize was that the cider was fermented and contained a high level of alcohol content and the more we drank the drunker we became.  Our walk home seemed never ending but for some reason none of us where cold any longer.  When we got back home early Christmas day morning, we exchanged gifts and opened them with great joy and appreciation for each other and with our amazement that we were celebrating our first Christmas in Paris, France.

The Christmas season in Paris was magical.  The city becomes a celebration of lights, decorations and overwhelming scents of food, pastry's , ciders, evergreen, cinnamon and all the other festive things that awaken all of the human senses.

After the holidays, Paris became normal again.  Everyone settled into their normal routines and the city transformed itself into it's tourist self.  Since the holiday came to an end we decided to get rid of the Christmas tree.  As we were taking the decorations off the tree, the needles were dropping to the floor and making a mess.  We imagined what kind of mess we would create if we tried to carry it through the apartment and down the stairs, through the courtyard and out to the street for pickup.  My Father came up with a brilliant idea, let's open the window door and drop the tree to the street.  I was sent outside to make sure that the sidewalk was clear of pedestrians.  My Father lifted the tree over the balcony and on my command he let is go.  The tree came down from the second floor with a swooshing sound and came to an abrupt stop. The tree was standing straight up but when it hit the sidewalk, every single needle on the tree fell to the ground.  Within seconds the tree was bare to the branches and nothing was left but the skeleton.  I looked up at my Father, his eyes were bigger that saucers and we began laughing uncontrollably for minutes afterwords. To this day, every time we retell the Christmas tree story we laugh and laugh as it still remains one of the highlights of our first Christmas in Paris.