On Christmas Eve we explored the town of Vence. The food markets were amazing with heaps of fresh produce. We walked with Dad to pick up the Christmas Turkey that had been ordered, some croissants while Hamish and Mum picked up the special Christmas dessert – Bouche Noel. Here in France Christmas is celebrated on the night of the 24th. It was strange for us to see the shops and cafes open, knowing that people would be going home to celebrate Christmas. We had decided that even though we were in France we would be celebrating an Aussie Christmas on the 25th. Christmas morning dawned bright with brilliant blue skies. The kids excitedly opened their letters from Santa, which contained iTunes vouchers and the promise of presents left at home. The backpacks are filled with clothes and presents are hard to carry.
We prepared the turkey and vegetables and sat outside in the sun. We had aimed to have lunch ready for around 1.30. At around 12 – Dad stated that he couldn’t smell the turkey and ‘shouldn’t we be able to smell it by now’. Hmmm, well, yes. The oven in our house is a tricky thing and appeared to have turned itself off, so that the turkey had been sitting in a lukewarm oven for a … while. We got the oven going, read the instruction booklet to troubleshoot and we were going again. Christmas lunch was now planned for 4.30. We fed the kids more apples and crackers. The kids had thoroughly enjoyed being in a house with a garden again and spent the day playing outside in the sunshine.
Well it appears that the oven has only two settings – on and off. With the vegetables well browned we served up a delicious Christmas lunch. We had even managed to make gravy from the browning on the Pork dish. It was delicious.
Mum and Dad had found an olive branch and had made a makeshift Christmas tree. We had decorated it with collected decorations. It was very special. We sat around and shared the few gifts we had purchased. A great Christmas day.
Boxing Day dawned with rain and with the kids already having decided on a “pajama” day, we all pottered about the house reading, playing cards and taking it easy.
