Merry Christmas from Us to You

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad, wherever you are, however you say it, we wish you a Merry Christmas and we hope you have had a wonderful day.

This has been an unusual Christmas for our family. Eldest daughter Tricia and family are spending the holiday with her in-laws in Southern California. Wife Shirley and youngest daughter Stephanie are both working at the hospital today, Shirley on a neurology floor and Stephanie on a neonatal intensive care unit.

To top it off, little Madison is under the weather and parents Stephanie and Earl took her to the Emergency Room this morning to see the doctor. Thankfully, since Stephanie works at the hospital, they didn't have to wait and they were in and out and back home.

We did take a few minutes to sit in front of the tree with Abbi for a Christmas picture before we started opening gifts. Do note the red ribbon in Abbi's hair; she went to the cleaner and got groomed all pretty and sweet for Christmas.

"Santa' was very good to me. I asked for books, especially cookbooks and my wishes were fulfilled. Shirley says giving me cookbooks is like giving the gift that keeps on giving. I look forward to trying out the recipes from each of the books.

Besides cooking brunch this morning and preparing dishes (mushroom leek stuffing) for Stephanie to take to her work potluck and Shirley too (roast beet salad), I fixed a couple of dishes to take to the neighbors house. In between all of the gift opening, eating and cooking, I also found time to call family in Michigan, New Mexico, France and chat with the guests who are staying at our home in Sablet this week.

Our long time neighbors invited me and son-in-law Earl over for Christmas dinner tonight. Not sure if Earl will make it or not as he is taking care of sick children. I am taking a couple of dishes to contribute to the feast.

Bonne journée mes amis et à très bientôt.

Provence for the Holidays; Looking for Ideas!

We are ready for Christmas here in California. The tree is beautiful, simply decorated by wife Shirley, only one tree this year, rather than our usual two. We are staying slightly low key this year because we are all leaving for Provence right after Christmas.

When I say all, I mean everyone including daughters Tricia and Stephanie, their husbands Alvin and Earl and our four adorable, if I say so myself, grandchildren Avery (4 years), Dylan (3 years), Caedon (2 years) and Madison (1 month old).

We have a few santons set out which I bought a few years ago in Les Beaux. I bought them for display at our Bistro Des Copains but we don't have the space for a creche at the Bistro so we have the santons at home.

The only family member staying home is Abbi. Abbi is a 150 pound Newfoundland. She is as sweet and loving as she can be; yes she does drool some, especially after she eats, drinks or runs. Abbi thinks she is human and never likes to be more than a few steps away from us even when we sleep.

Abbi will be home watching over the house, we think it would be complicated and hard on Abbi to travel in a plane so she doesn't get to come to Provence when we go.

This will be our first time in Sablet or anywhere in Provence at Christmas time or for New Years. The last time I was in France at this time of year was back in 1966 and 1967 when we lived in Strasbourg while my father was a doctoral student at the University of Strasbourg.

We don't have many plans so we are looking for suggestions for things to do. We are looking forward to catching up with neighbors, meeting with friends in Villedieu and of course spending time with our French family. I am especially looking forward to meeting several of the bloggers I follow who live in the Vaucluse.

So what are good things to do or see at this time of year in the Vaucluse? We will have two cars so we can go different places but we are looking for some things to do that our grandkids will enjoy. I know for one thing, we are going to Avignon's Place de l'Horloge so they can ride the carousel.

As you probably know, we are co-owners of a small bistro called Bistro des Copains in Northern California. Most of my family love food and wine so if there are special food and wine events, special markets, that would be right up our alley. I want to find truffles where should I go?

Are there any special or unique celebrations to bring in the New Year? Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated! We wish you all Happy Holidays!