January 02, 2010

French Christmas


Since today is the day the French branch of the family is celebrating Christmas this year, we decided to leave one gift box unopened until this morning and we would feel we were catching some of the spirit of their holiday. The weather here is cooperating in making it seem like Christmas all over again. This photo was taken around 8 a.m. this morning and there is another 25 cm. of snow in the forecast for today.

The gift box was from Ronce les Bains and filled with memories of a great visit there a few summers ago. Sophie and Jean Paul are so thoughtful.


There are shells from Spanish Point to add to our glass jar. This is just a sampling of them. Sophie and Jean Paul live across from the sea in an area famous for its oyster beds. We had walked to Spanish Point several times. It is a great area for morning treks along miles of sandy shoreline. We met only the occasional walker in the early morning and could watch the oyster fisherman in the distance manoeuvring their boats in to long lines of oyster racks.



When we were there, I discovered a small shop on one of the main streets just up from the sea with a wonderful collection of buttons - something I don't see anymore in stores in this area. Here, there are only the same nondescript buttons on cards that are sent out to chain stores all across the country. This is the second time now that Sophie has sent buttons from France and, as usual, they are exquisite little things with a pearlescent finsh. They will go in a glass button jar on a hallway table until I knit just the right little sweater for them.


And if that was not enough, there is Charente-Maritime tote bag that we can take on Saturday mornings to our own Farmers Market, a tin of buttery French biscuits, and a lovely apron for making biscuits in our own Canadian kitchen.

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