Tag Archives: Christmas

Joyeux Noël

Posted by whitneyandjared in Travel, Whitney and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Get ready for a lot of pictures, folks.

Though we were far away from friends and family (and missing them greatly), we still had a lovely Niçoise Christmas.

The day before Christmas Eve (so…Christmas Eve Eve) we met up with Molly and Katy and ventured into Vieux Nice to see the live crèche with musical performers and real animals. The streets were far busier than in the previous weeks, and the air was buzzing with the excitement of the holiday. Even the butcher was in the holiday spirit, and a huge line had formed to buy birds for Christmas Eve dinner.

busy butcher

bunnies!

goats

Molly jokingly wondered why Super Mario had been included in the crèche

The next day on Christmas Eve, we had a relaxing morning at home and then went into Nice as it got dark to see the lights with Molly and Katy. We had only been in town in the daytime so far, so we wanted to see everything all lit up before Christmas.We were not disappointed! Place Masséna was decked out and even more impressive than we had expected. It was also a lot more crowded too, but nothing compared to what we were used to in New York. We had a nice spot of champagne and then Katy convinced Molly to go up again on the giant Ferris Wheel (Molly “white knuckled it” the whole time).

Katy and I all spiffed up

cheers!

Katy gets a wee sip for Christmas Eve

Jared goes Byzantine

Santa!!

"Well hello, Pere Noel! I shall kindly request a brand new cravat this Christ-mas."

After that we headed to the apartment of Chris’ parents for more champange and appetizers, and to open some presents. Chris’ mother made me the most beautiful scarf – I was so surprised! I’ll get a better picture for you but it’s a blue and turquoise version of Katy’s below. Molly and Chris got me some fancy body wash and Jared got a giant scratch ticket. Everybody really went out of their way to make sure we felt welcome and included, and we are so touched by their kindness.

Katy's haul

he won 20 Euros!

even Kelly got a stocking

all in pink and ready to hit the road

Katy loves to pose for pictures while Nico actively dives out of the way (lest you think I don’t try to include him). After the presents we went over to Molly and Chris’ for dinner and to give Katy and Nico their gifts from us.

Katy taking a "tour" on the way home

Molly's beautiful table

apparently, we are special enough for the wedding china!

Limoncello!

on the way home, Chris stopped so I could take this picture

The next morning (Christmas Day!) we had some mimosas and breakfast at home and then met up at Molly and Chris’ to drive up to his family’s house in Blausasc, about 20 minutes above Nice. There was a big lively crowd of Chris’ family, and they were really fun to spend the day with. It was nice to be around someone’s family if we couldn’t be with our own! I was also feeling quite at home since I’d been up to the Blausasc house a few times on my previous visits. It was particularly cozy for Christmas Day, though.

the house

the view

gathered at the table

Here, instead of Christmas dinner they do a lunch (which I think is pretty common for Europe), and it is several courses long and paired with wine (OF COURSE). We were so full for the rest of the day that I only ate a yogurt for dinner to help digest! We started out with champagne and sausages, then moved on to homemade fois gras pâté with various breads (Molly brought gluten-free bread for Jared, because we are totally spoiled here). There was a delicious fig bread, but with the pâté my favorite was the gingerbread – I would have never thought to put them together but…wow. Then we moved on to a roast (Molly made stuffed turkey breast for me since I don’t eat beef…like I said, spoiled) accompanied by three potato gratins: regular, asparagus and violet. Then we moved on to salad and cheese – the French eat salad after their main course to aid digestion – and at this point Jared realized what I meant at the beginning of the meal when I said I was going to pace myself. Oy, the cheese! Most of it was local and they were all delicious. After that came dessert. We had a twist on the traditional bûche de Noël and had two bûches, one with lemon and raspberry sorbet and one with hazelnut and vanilla ice cream. THEN we had dried fruits and nougat, which are traditional Christmas foods of Nice. Chris’ mother explained that there are 13 traditional foods…but nobody could quite list them all at once, and I couldn’t remember them even if they did. Lastly, we had various chocolates with coffee, and Jared had to go sit down on the couch and watch some American football with Chris because he could barely move. He did choke down some Limoncello, though.

festive table settings

a souvenir from the bûche

it's amazing they are even awake in this picture

Once Jared could move again we went downstairs to the game room and worked off a few calories with some intense rounds of fooseball. Molly turned on the French 80′s music (the room doubles as the family “disco”) and Nico practiced his ping pong. We had been told there would be a tournament with a cash prize, but I think everyone was too full to make that happen. Probably for the best, as one of Chris’ relatives is some sort of ping pong champion so none of us would have stood a chance!

The shirt and belt we bought Katy - it says "Miss Katy" (we also bought her a skirt but she had ditched it at this point in the day)

Nico in action

BUUUUTTTTT!!!

Since the festivities were early in the day, we got back to our place with a lot of time to relax, digest and Skype with our families. It was really a great day. We are so happy to have been in Nice to celebrate with Molly and Chris and their extended family, and are so thankful for friends like them who make us feel a little closer to home when we are halfway around the world.

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Fun at la Foire

Posted by whitneyandjared in Travel, Whitney and tagged with , , , , ,

Wednesday we went into Nice to meet Molly and family and go to a small fair around the corner from their house. We went in early to finish up some Christmas shopping and wandered around Nice a bit.

we were obsessed with this building

is that not the most perfect color of orange??

50's Happy Diner?!? YAY!!!

When we got to the fair the first thing we saw was a Zoltar machine! I made Jared get his fortune.

Tragically, I stopped recording a moment too soon. As soon as I turned off the camera Jared said, “what did he say??”

Katy also went in for Zoltar

We had a great time acting like kids. We went on the giant slide, drove the bumper cars, waded through the fun house and straight up gave Euros to the clutch machines.

fun house, indeed

You can see from the last picture that carnival food is a little different here. They did have most of the classics though. I love how the French call cotton candy “barbe à papa” which means “dad’s beard.” What a cute name!

Jared was very excited about Katy's unicorn

There were many things Jared and I wished we were able to do but were just for the kids. Jared’s favorite was the activity that combined bungee cords with trampolines, and I really wanted to run around in a bubble like Katy.

most of the kids were doing variations of this

I'd also like one of these ponies in my size

It was nice to see something like a fair through kids’ eyes again. Remember when that was the most exciting thing in the world?

Nico and Katy show off their haul

On the way home it was starting to get dark so we caught a bit of the lights in Nice.

Bonnes Fêtes, everyone!

Marché aux Puces

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“I like walking around and looking at old things.“  -Jared Howe

One of the things I was most excited about seeing again in Nice was the antiques/flea market in the old town. It’s held every Monday in the same place as the flower market from yesterday’s post and has a huge variety of items. Jared came with me since antiques shopping is just about the only kind he likes, and we met Molly, her daughter Katy and Katy’s friend Isabelle at the Garibaldi bus stop and walked over. The girls were very excited because they had just gotten a pair of “Best Friends” necklaces, which they were happy to model for me.

Katy and Isabelle, BFFs

the market transformed

fancy stalls

silver

vintage racing game

vintage indexed map set of all of France

Sadly (for me), it seems in the last 10 years that vendors have started to catch on to what their stuff is worth, so there weren’t a ton of bargains to be had. The above set of maps, which I covet with my SOUL was €180! Sigh. I did buy some cool old coins and keys to use in my jewelry crafting, but that was about it. I also was thisclose to walking away with some awesome vintage flashcards, so I may go back if we can find some room in the budget (or if Santa thinks I’ve been good!).

We caught a preview of the market on Saturday when we met Molly in Place Garabaldi to walk to her house before the soccer match. There are iterations of this big market on different days in different parts of Nice or in neighboring villages (it was in the next town over from us on Sunday), and we happened to stumble on a few vendors in the square. We stopped at a rack of vintage coats and I tried one on because we’ve had a bit of an unusual cold snap here and I had been thinking I may need something a bit heftier to get me through the next month. It fit like a glove and Jared and Molly practically insisted I buy it. It was only €25 and while we were hemming and hawing over it (some buttons needed to be sewn back on), the woman reduced the price to €20! Sold. Maybe my coat high explains my willpower at the antiques market?

new (old) coat!

After we said goodbye to Molly and the girls, we did some Christmas shopping and then headed back to Place Masséna to ride the Ferris wheel at the Christmas market. It’s an enormous wheel, and we had been waiting for a sunny day to ride it so we could have the best possible views of Nice. The views were fantastic, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a tiny bit nervous at the top of that thing. We were so high up!

post-ride, this picture seems a lot more ominous

the view was pretty stellar though

looking a little wary

smiling through the terror

beautiful.

Place Masséna Christmas market

those cars are a little too open for our taste...

When we told Molly that we had ridden the wheel she mentioned that it made her nervous to be up there too. We equated it to riding the Cyclone at Coney Island: it was probably safe, but didn’t inspire a lot of confidence. At any rate, we survived and stopped for socca on the way back to the bus.

Christmas d’Azur

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We’ve had a few days to explore town, so here’s a bit of a recap before the holiday craziness takes over.

First, a few shots around Saint Jean where we are staying. It’s a small village full of a lot of money, but the mansions tend to be secluded and the residents of them are pretty private so the atmosphere remains rather charming. I’ve had some lovely chats with the butcher (who told me to just call him up in the morning when I want a rotisserie chicken and he’ll get it started for me) and some other shopkeepers, and am feeling very welcomed and at home here. Jared feels that way too, but only after I translate for him. My French is improving and it’s been really rewarding to talk to locals and not feel like a total idiot!

The Côte d’Azur is dotted with small villages like ours, and each one is decorated to the nines for Christmas. They all have their own Nativity scenes (called a crèche which is French for nursery) and Saint Jean even has Christmas music playing on speakers in the village center.

a whale of a bench! har.

orange trees abound in Saint Jean (we even have one!)

crèche in Saint Jean

lights in Saint Jean

We are about a 20 minute bus ride (and two towns over) from Nice but it’s an easy commute with a beautiful view, and the bus stop is just around the corner from our house so it’s simple to get into see Molly and her family. We met up with her a few times last week and checked out the flower market (which is an antiques market on Mondays – more on that tomorrow), the Vieille Ville (Old Town), and the beautiful waterfront promenade. Thursday was a really windy day so I took a video of the waves. You can see from the photos and video why this is called the Côte d’Azur (Azure Coast).

narrow streets in Vieille Ville

chocolate shop window

I love these guys!

in front of the Palais de Justice

Palais de Justice - back

war memorial

flower market

view of the water from the market

promenade

We also walked through the Christmas village in Place Masséna in the center of Nice. The area is full of booths of crafts and treats, an ice skating rink, an enormous Ferris Wheel (more on that tomorrow) and all kinds of games and entertainment. We strolled around for a while checking out the wares, and then gorged ourselves on socca and mulled wine. Socca is a local food made from chickpea flour, olive oil and salt and is cooked in a huge cast iron pan in a wood burning oven. Then you put pepper on it and if you are us, eat it as fast as you can without burning your mouth. It’s so good. Traditionally it’s what the poor residents ate, but now it’s part of the culture of Nice (a delicious part!).

the tram

Christmas market

Jared shows off his socca

mmm, socca and mulled wine!

As much fun as we are having seeing the city, the best part has been spending time with Molly and her family. They have been awesome at getting us set up, giving us directions, suggesting activities and taking us around to fun places in Nice. We really feel like we are on vacation here!

Molly and her dog Kelly

Kelly

It’s sad to be so far away from family at Christmas, but we feel very fortunate to be spending Christmas here with good friends and beautiful surroundings.

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Posted by whitneyandjared in Travel, Whitney and tagged with , , , , ,
The Stradun

This gallery contains 10 photos.

I will say one thing for the people of Dubrovnik: they know how to make this place charming as hell, especially during the holidays. And why not? It’s their bread and butter and they know it. Every archway (of which there are many) is adorned with boughs, lights and oranges and many shops have done … Keep reading →