Because I was doing research at the University this summer instead of going to France with my family, my relatives teamed up to get me a plane ticket to go see them this winter.
It means that:
1. Grandmother The Cook will spoil me rotten and make me more food than I can eat. And I will eat all of it, because Mother will not be there to tell me that it's really not a good idea to eat three servings of apple beignets.
2. Tiny Grandmother will take me shopping in bookshops and teach me how to knit (again) and take me skiing (maybe) and make tarts with this autumn's preserves of rhubarb and coings.
3. Radio Grandfather will take me to his English Club's first meeting of the semester so he can brag about how well I speak English and take me to the celebration for his 60 years of amateur radio and show me how he can sort of use his computer now and ask for a lot of advice which he will promptly forget.
4. Grandfather Busy Bee will show me the latest extension he's built to the house and the new aviary I've been asking for since I was seven and play endless games of belote and shiftily try to cheat and pretend to look offended when we of course call him out.
5. Cousin Baby Bird won't be the baby bird I fed mushed peas to because she turned nine yesterday, but she will still take my hand and drag me to her secret fort and snuggle with me on the couch or play mommy.
6. Cousin Grand Loup will boast of his newest football victories and pick on his sister a little until mother makes him stop.
7. Aunt Raspberry will talk to me about science and research and my love life.
8. Godfather and I will have awkward conversations because our relationship has always been awkard.
9. Aunt and Uncle Ebay will make witty cracks and be slightly pushy and over-generous.
10. Gay Uncle will call me "ma puce" and "ma grande" and challenge me to checkers and petits chevaux and tell funny stories and about whichever Parisian wildlife he has recently adopted as a pet and then remember suddenly that I'm a lot older than he remembered and talk about how I could almost fit in his pocket when I was a baby.
10. Godmother will be the bustling, busy, wonderful woman she always is and take me shopping for purses and shoes and make cracks she thinks aren't that funny but really are side-splitting and maybe will get angry and yell a lot because she gets tired.
11. Bearded Uncle will be loud and ask me about my life and career and not really take me seriously and be a bit scary although he doesn't mean to be.
12. Eldest Cousin will be overbearing and a bit annoying and parading her new boyfriend.
13. Boy Cousin will be in Cold Country With Bears and Moose and Mounties.
14. Favorite Cousin and German Cousin might ignore me a bit because I don't wear makeup or watch TV shows or listen to top 40 music or party a lot.
15. Distant and Not-So-Distant Relatives Who Show Up To Family Gatherings will tell dirty jokes and drink a lot at the New Year's reveillon.
16. I will get to eat my first galette des Rois in six years, a real one, with frangipane and a fève and Grandmother The Cook will accidentally give me the slice with it because she knows it makes me happy.
17. There will be snow and fireplaces and a hot iron in my bed to warm up the sheets before bedtime.
18. Winter potatoes will be suitable for making pommes dauphine.
19. The hilltop tower in which Radio Grandfather and Tiny Grandmother live will be very windy and shake a bit windy.
20. Most of all, there will be family and lots, lots of love.
I'm leaving on the 27th, and I can't wait.
4 comments:
Have you ever seen the board game Lotto? It's the UK equivalent of Petits Chevaux but I can't find it on the Internet because Lotto is also a synonym for Bingo and the name of our national lottery so all I get on Google is those. We used to play it as children and I expect there's still one in our loft somewhere.
I hope that your Christmas brings all the good things that you expect of it - and more. Safe journeyings.
Meant to say - instead of les feves we used to have silver threepenny bits in our Christmnas pudding and Mum would always make sure my brother and I got the slices with them in. I suspect if you tried it nowadays the Dreaded Health and Safety Executive would pounce on you for trying to choke people!!
Another of your fascinating postings.
I don't eat many deserts or sweet things but I love rhubarb and coings - what I would call quince I think. Some tarts with that filling and some cream and some black coffee. My mouth is watering.
I wish for you a visit filled with happiness and love.
It sounds like you'll have a very busy, but enjoyable time when you're there. Hope it goes exactly as you want it to.
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