Joyeux Noel from France

I sit by the fire, with my festive cocktail, in the salon that I have just finished decorating for the merry making month of December.

Minette is curled into a ball, very content on the chaise, albeit a bit miffed that I left her furry self to sit at the table and write this note. Every so often she unravels herself and stretches her front legs towards me, makes her funny noise that is meant to say, what, you are still on that machine?

I wonder what everyone else is going to do this Christmas? For many of us, plans have changed; we are becoming adept with the pivot. I am not sure exactly how my Christmas will unfold. I just know this; I will have many delicious things to eat, for this I am truly grateful. I will enjoy good wine. I will write to friends, talk to friends on the telephone. I will probably use up all the wood in my pile as a fire burning in the chimney for me is soul nourishing.

I will sleep in different rooms each week - this will drive Minette crazy - but she will pivot, and enjoy the change, and I will be taking mini holidays on the guest floor. I will put on my old fur coat, a gift I inherited from my great pal Veryl Fillion who died two days before Christmas in 1999, and go into the garden with Champagne. I will toast Veryl, my mother and all other loved ones, passed and living. I will stroll about my Winter Garden, warm within, sipping and dreaming about Spring to come, flowers that will bloom, vegetables I will plant, and the seeds I will sow. My dear friends Spencer and Peter posted a card secreting Sissinghurst White Poppy Seeds, what a treat!

I will walk in the woods, and along the Loire. Some days will find me walking with empty bottles to the depot. In France, you do not leave your bottles for a pick up, you don’t pay a deposit fee when you purchase, so you must haul your empty memories to one of the three depots in my town, each one about an 8 minute brisk walk from Maison des Mots.

And I will read. The books on my Decembre list are: Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson, Bread & Water by Dee Hobsbawn-Smith, and Salmon by Mark Kurlansky. I have started all three, but will finish Christmas Days first, a good plan methinks to hold on to the spirit.

The town is all dressed up for Noel. What a pleasing sight to see this old medieval ville sporting its holiday best. There will be Christmas Markets to browse about, which will see me purchasing more edibles than I can eat, but encourage me to share with others. Sometimes I feel alone, but I have friends who like to eat, and friends who love to eat always seem to love life as well. We shall celebrate the love of the season together.

So, another year approaches. I have French Curiosities to organise for 2022, (still time to purchase either one or 4 seasons for yourself or a loved one). I am writing another wee livret, and I believe, with all my heart and soul that the coming year will see us all feeling we can carry on, healthy in mind and spirit. And with bon chance, all of you who have desire to be here with me, will feel comfortable traveling to this charming piece of the French countryside.

Minette has made it clear that it’s time to finish this note, she has left the chaise, jumped onto my lap and is doing her best to make it impossible for me to tap more.

We send you lots of hugs and kisses from France, and wish you a pleasant December.

Madame M.

Maison des Mots Barbara-jo Residency

Joyeux Noel from France