Andrew in Provence

My littlest brother Andrew came to stay for a week, having just finished a two-year mission in France. I’m very happy to report that he is a true French speaker now and we will compel him to spend lots of time here going forward. I took him to some of the places I like best around here...Gordes, Bonnieux, Cassis and the Calanques

Le Sapin

Xavier always picks the fattest ones. Ambitious, even in his tree selection. Nutcracker effect - the tree dwarfs the rest of the room. Romy, Colette and Marguerite were wide-eyed and leaping around (breaking ornaments, naturally). The lights were tangled and each girl wanted to be the star placer, but the general effect was a dash of Christmas magic. Our Danish au pair was trimmed and made shiny (the girls love her, we all do). And now we gather around the tree to read stories and sit in the twinkling lights.

I love this moment when lived through three little girls. Colette has had a lot of Christmas questions this year. Esteban’s (her amoureux) mother informed him that there is no Père Noël and he sadly unloaded this knowledge onto Colette. Kind of confusing because throughout the month of December at school, the girls learn 20 Christmas carols for the Christmas performance and all bad behavior is reprimanded with the threat of Père Noël withholding gifts. Colette is perplexed. Romy just wants chocolate and presents. Marguerite wants to jump high and do flips on a trampoline. Fingers crossed for them all.

The snowy day in Provence!

Snow is a rather extraordinary event in this part of Provence. As if to bring in the month of December and Christmas, we woke up to it! The girls were frantic, trying to piece together their ski gear to get out and roll around in the white powder they all knew so well in NYC. Our yard was transformed - just magical.