ho ho ho in Paris

I was at my book group Tuesday night and we got to talking about Christmas celebration styles. My group is quite international - we are French, Lebanese, Italian, American, British, Croatian, German, Persian, and other nationalities that I am probably forgetting at the moment. I started telling the group about our Christmas habits in the San Diego suburbs. They were astounded - even the other Americans, though they are from the East Coast and might as well be from a different country.

Apparently we go allllll the way overboard out West. Frankly I can see what they mean, especially now that I am entering my third Parisian Christmas season and live a different holiday experience here. It is December 12th today and I just bought my first present and have yet to decorate, buy a tree,or think about cards (and promptly dis-card that idea!). Truth is that if I was still in San Diego I would be in a complete state of panic right now - AND suffering immeasurable guilt at being such a Christmas loser for being as unprepared as I am today.

The mouths of the members of my book group were agape as I told them about hiring Christmas light hangers to work Thanksgiving weekend to drape our very tall houses and very tall trees in proper white lights.

"There is such a thing as PROFESSIONAL Christmas light hangers for regular houses?" they all asked incredulously.

Yes, sad but true. On or around November 28 those guys are booked solid in my old neighborhood. They were shocked with another crazy habit of so many of my friends back home which is to have more than one Christmas tree in their house. Not a couple little baby trees and one big main one - no - 2 or more big trees. This has always struck me as vaguely sacrilegious. Kind of like more than one Santa Claus in a room full of waiting children. You kind of have to keep up the illusion that He exists by having only one guy present at a time. Same with a tree. It's supposed to be a magical thing in a home and somehow having more than one takes away some of that magic. Besides Santa could become confused. Afterall He's got to put all the presents under the REAL tree doesn't he?

I don't know, maybe it was just me, but somehow amongst all that Christmas "magic" the fun went out of it. There was just too much stress and pressure to make everything so damn "magical".

Well, in Paris, things are different. Oh, the department stores are still having their promotions just like in the US and shoppers can be seen on the streets toting packages and the stores are open late and - get this - even on Sundays! (That is a big deal in France.) But somehow it is different too. For one thing, no one I know has decorated for Christmas yet and the first real Christmas party we are invited to is this weekend, in San Diego we would be on our 3rd party weekend I think. In fact, the French find it quite odd that we Anglo's have Christmas parties at all. For them, Christmas is a family holiday, akin to our Thanksgiving, and is mostly celebrated in private. Lots of French businesses have their "Christmas Parties" after January 1st and French families send out Happy New Year's cards not Christmas cards and ONLY to people they do not see during the year. And the idea of a Christmas letter??.........Mon Dieu..jamais, never!

All in all, at least so far, Christmas is relatively stress free from what I can see in France. Of course we are in the Crise (crisis) just like the rest of the world so there is talk of a shorter list of gifts for the family this year amongst everyone but I am pretty certain that the gift lists here in France were always shorter and more reasonable than the ones we are used to giving back home and I was as guilty as the next back there.

My other 3 daughters arrive from the States next week to join Jane and me and what I am planning is lots big meals for the 5 of us plus some "meeting the boyfriend (this time mom's!) and his kids" get togethers and decorating with a mini tree because all of my decorations are back in storage in San Diego along with the rest of the  stuff from my former life and maybe having a fire in the fireplace. I am learning lots of things living as a foreigner over here and as far as Christmas goes the French are teaching me that there IS another way.

 

Comments

[Stacy]

I am doing what I call "Christmas Lite" this year. I had to get rid of the old tree because it could be harmful to Greg and I bought a little six foot that uses only about half of our ornaments. I was able to put it up and decorate it all by myself much to Greg's delight! I didn't even hang the stockings and I just started the cards this weekend. There are no lights in site at my house. I'm really enjoying my lite Christmas. Merry Christmas!!!!!!!