Christmas Season in Montpellier

It's a little odd for me to be enjoying almost balmy weather in December. Although we've had the occasional Christmas without snow in Edmonton, it is certainly rare. This last week has been beautiful. Street decorations are up and I sent you a couple of pictures of the old city in my last blog. I believe there are even tours of the city lights through the tourist office. Shop windows are decorated and artificial trees adorn most of les petites rues. The stores have increased their hours to accommodate the Christmas shoppers and yesterday, when I was in the old city, the streets were filled with people and so was the tram. 

I had noticed a poster on one of the shop doors a few days ago for a Concert Chœur Régional at the Chapelle St. Charles-La Providence on Saturday at 5:30. To get into the Christmas spirit, I thought I might try it thinking it may be a Christmas concert with music like Ave Maria or the Allelujah Chorus. Although the choir was good and the soloist had a beautiful voice, it turned out to be a fairly somber programme with music I wasn't familiar with nor would necessarily want to be. The seats in the chapel were particularly uncomfortable too (hard, wooden chairs). The upside was that I sat beside a lovely woman and she and I had a chat before the concert began. It turns out that she works in a building next door to ILA, my school, and she would like to meet me for coffee sometime in the New Year so that I can practice my French. We exchanged information and I'll give her a call when I return. 

Back to Christmas... I talked to Patricia about her family traditions. She does put up a tree, but not until a week before Christmas. She spends Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at her daughter's home in Aniane. She believes Christmas is all about the kids. There are only small gifts like tea or chocolate for the adults. After a late "repas" Christmas afternoon, she comes back to her home in Montpellier for a quiet evening after two days of excitement with the children. I asked her if the children write a letter to Père Noël. She said that Martin, her youngest grandchild, telephones Père Noël (alias Guy) who is a friend of hers. Martin shares his wish list with Père Noël and Guy plays along. I gather it is a lot of fun to listen to their conversation. Martin is an energetic little guy and I'm sure he gets pretty excited.

I'll be leaving for Canada in a week's time to share the holidays with my husband, family and friends and I can hardly wait.  In the meantime, I have one more week of school, so I had best get studying. Talk to you soon.