Merry Christmas from us to you

Christmas 2014 is upon us, although some of us have been celebrating all month long.  I love the Christmas season and everything it represents.  I love decorating my own house but also seeing what is done everywhere else.

I thought I'd share with you some of the things about the Season that I'm enjoying in my own life.

A cherubic creche

We personally celebrate Christmas as the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, thus we have a collection of crèches in our home, from different parts of the world.  This particular one was one of our first, bought at a home party given by a good friend back in the '80s, and it has been part of our décor ever since.  She also made the Noel for me, long before we knew that would become the standard Christmas term for us.

I've been listening to a lot of Christmas music, as there are so many fun or meaningful tunes out there.  We collected a lot of CDs whenever we could in our early days over here because the French did not have the tradition of playing it all month on the radio like we were used to in the US.  Now there is so much streaming music, it's not a shortage at all.  I would like to share a fairly new song about the meaning of Christmas that you may not have heard before.  I hope you enjoy it.

Reflecting the original meaning of Christmas

Santa Baby, hurry down the chimney tonight

Over the years, I've ended up with a collection of Santas all in the same general size, so now I put them together as a specific display.  Most of them represent various activities connected to our family, so they are quite nostalgic.

I've also collected a number of classy set pieces.  So this year I made a quite nice presentation on top of our organ with them and the miniatures above them.

I think this makes quite a nice festive focal point.

Because a lot of English-influenced things here are actually British, we've been exposed to another foreign culture by living here.  I loved this song the first time I heard it, so I hope you'll find it as fun as I did.

From the Wombles (whoever they are!)

Christmas on the Riviera

Isn't she lovely

I thought I'd give you a taste of what Christmas can look like from our balcony here in the South of France, with the Alps in the background. 

And Romeo would also like to give you her Holiday greetings as she's enjoying the wood fire in front of her.

In the French vein, I thought I'd share one of their most famous seasonal songs, one I never heard of before moving here, so perhaps it's new to you, too.

A French classic

And so, as many of us prepare for the annual Christmas celebration in whatever ways our personal family traditions dictate, Doc Leo and I wish you a hearty Merry Christmas from here in the South of France to you, wherever you might be.

Joyeux Noël, Tout le Monde!