Images and impressions

The weather has stayed mild so it is easy to decide on some outdoor visits. We walked into town when it got dark to check out the lights in town again...this time with Maya. This is a sort of "raining down"system of lights...looks a bit like snow falling above the street.

 We had a nice lunch in the little restaurant on this square and the lights at night are quite pretty.There is a fountain on the right.

 Some sparkle near the cathedral "ski slope."

 City Hall also decorated.

These are some more of the window decorations in town...

 this shop sells tea...

Love the giant bunny with its teddy bear!

Many of the color schemes seem to be leaning towards grays and silver...this is just one of the chic windows. I really liked the huge wooden beads and the little sheep in the window.

 A photo pause at the foot of the giant decorated Christmas tree.

This is the crèche of santons in the cathedral St. Siffren. There is a santon for every profession and most towns have a fair with stands to buy santons for the family crèche at home. Usually the santon is made of the red clay in the region and painted by hand and they range in sizes from miniature (under one inch) to large. These santons were quite large (about 18") and dressed in fabric clothing. Notice how one of the church statues (on the left), located here on usual times, is wrapped in brown paper??!!

Look at the quilting on this santon's skirt made of provençal print fabric. 

On Monday we drove over to Venasque for a little stroll in the quiet streets. Here's the city hall.

 A view of the ancient church from the main street.

 The fountain was all decorated but since it was Monday afternoon on the 27th the boulangerie was closed.

 Some blossoms on walls...kind of a surprise to see in December.

 I love the fat walls which open out to the parking and the boules playing area. These were built to keep out the raiding Moors who were sweeping through France at the time of Charlemagne.

We went down the hill into Saint Didier where people were out and about. This is a view of the main street from the car window. I wanted to go and get some nougat at Silvain...master nougatier.They even make nougat with olive pieces in it. It is so good! Another of the 13 desserts for Noël.

Here is another crèche in the community center window...really very complex and pretty. Look at the hilltop village...could it be Venasque I wonder?

Can you see Jean-Claude and myself reflected in the window??

I loved this little passageway's name and the color of the shutters. Raspberries are one of my favorite summer berries!

We got home in time for a little evening cuddle. What is better than a snoozing baby after a busy day???

A la prochaine!!!

More Noel

On Christmas Eve day JC and I went off to the local supermarket L.Leclerc to pick up some last minute items for the evening. Family was coming over to have dinner and hope for a visit from Père Noël.

Part of the dinner plan was foie gras, roast capon, sautéed fingerling potatoes and of course a bûche from Jouvaud for dessert. Those are candied chestnuts (marrons) on top of the bûche...it was delicious!!!

At the supermarket the displays for holiday food items were everywhere. This stand is for a special Provençal bread which is part of the 13 desserts of Noël...it is a pompe à l'huile which is made with olive oil and flavoring of orange. It has a slightly sweet flavor and you are not supposed to cut it but rather tear a piece off the loaf which will give good luck in the year to come.

These are specially made breads for foie gras...they have a variety of these, some are toasted, others are like gingerbready and these were soft.

It was really so interesting to see what was on offer that is different from what we are used to in the USA. I should have taken more photos but the place was buzzing and we were checking off our list. By the time we got to the registers I didn't want to go back.

A few days earlier, as part of the "Noëls insolites" in Carpentras, we went to see a play at La Charité.

This place is like a more ancient, larger Multnomah Art Center with classes in music, art, dance and theatre among other activities. We went upstairs to see the "Ice Queen".

That afternoon it was time to bake some sugar cookies for Noël. 

They turned out pretty good...got a little bit of decoration and were eaten in almost a blink of an eye!!! More to bake next week!

Père Noël made a visit to our house!!!

Here is what he brought for JC...a special, personalized apron.

I hope that means he is going to be doing more cooking?? Maybe if we get the marvelous Thermomix?

Here is another interesting present someone got...grow your own mushrooms in 10 days at home!? I am wondering how that will work out.

On Christmas Day we went to Pauline's house for a great noon meal. Here is the beautiful table setting...we were 15 at table.

Here is the foie gras and the cheese platter

We had a great time with lots of time to chat and watch the children open presents. And take some goofy selfies too.

A bientôt!

Carpentras decked out for the holidays

The whole city is decorated for the holidays and people are out walking and participating in all sorts of activities. The Place Inguimbert

behind the cathedral was set up like a mini ski slope!

Not lots of snow in the alps but there were "skiers" in Carpentras.
There was a little "warming hut" which served hot chocolate and snacks and there were wandering "minstrels" throughout the streets.

These were puppeteers walking along the passage pietonnier.

In front of the cathedral, like in medieval times, there were jugglers and flame throwers.

Almost all of the streets had lights decorating them...

And the windows had all sorts of ideas...possible table settings

...what to wear

Good things to eat...

 This is part of the 13 desserts of Provence for Christmas...

 ...here you can see almonds, calissons and nougat

And of course some snow people.

I hope this finds you having a lovely Christmas holiday! I'll be back later with some more pictures but today its time to play with all the toys brought by Père Noël!! A bientôt.