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Published: January 7th 2013
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Lise in Costume
Costume shops don't really exist in France so it was a big hit (she bought it in US) It’s Christmas Eve and I’m a little worried because today I’ll be on display for everyone. The Brocards are celebrating Christmas Eve because more of the family can come today. Here’s the guest list:
Me, Lise, Mr. Brocard (Yves), Mrs. Brocard (Carole), Lise’s sister (Elodie), Her boyfriend (Olivier), Boyfriend’s dad (Serge)
Lise’s mom is doing all of the cooking so I don’t have to worry about that (she prefers it that way too). Usually when I wrap presents I get my brother to help, and he was absent this time so I did my best with the wrapping. I got Lise a dress that she picked out. I bought finger puppets for Lise’s dad because he is notoriously difficult to buy gifts for. I ended up giving one to Serge also because he gave me a gift and I didn’t buy him anything (I bought 5 total and gave away 3 total). I gave Lise’s mom a Christmas ornament in the shape of a candy cane that blinks on and off and says NCSU on it. For Lise’s sister, I bought some English slang flash cards because I know she likes to speak English and has some English inside
jokes with Lise.
Before the events started, I dressed up in black dress pants with a blue button down shirt and a blue/black tie. Lise bought a Christmas outfit from the US and things like that don’t exist in France, so she was excited about wearing it in front of her family. Everyone arrived, and the event was underway.
Christmas at the Brocards started with everyone putting their presents under the fake Christmas tree. We then moved into the living room and drank a glass of champagne and a few snacks, such as cheese puffs, bread with paté inside, and mixed nuts. Lise handed out the presents to everyone and insisted that we open the presents for her cat, Feliz, first. Elodie bought the cat a new collar and Lise brought a cat Christmas costume from the US (which also doesn’t exist in France). The cat wearing the costume was a pretty big hit and you can see the pictures here. There is a difference between how Lise’s family opens presents and how my family opens them. In my family, we open each present one at a time so that we can see people’s responses to the gifts
The table is set
Complete with Christmas tablecloth and explain our mentality in buying them. Here, everyone opens them at the same time so that you don’t have to pretend to really enjoy a present and if someone is particularly proud of a present they will explain why they bought it. I actually got a fair amount of presents including:
An R2-D2 shirt, space invader ice cube tray, space invader stickers, guide to Paris with 50 euros hiding inside, glass of champagne, keyboard keys bottle stoppers, and a big chocolate bar (“tablet” in French is chocolate bar and it has a double meaning of a tablet like an iPad).
After presents were opened it was time for dinner. Lise changed into the dress that I’d bought her for Christmas because her outfit was getting hot. Lise’s mom had prepared a feast for the 7 people eating and everyone was hungry. Before we started eating, Carole pointed out that everyone had some kind of small Christmas hat on their plate that she insisted we wear for the meal. Hats included small elf hats, Santa hats, and reindeer antlers.
The meal started off with Yves pouring some red wine from 2005. The first course was a salad
with mushrooms, tomatoes, a slice of pear, slice of carrot, and a slice of another orange citrus fruit that I can’t think of right now. Bread was also served with Carole’s homemade Foie Gras. The Foie Gras was particularly tasty on top toasted gingerbread. After everyone had finished their first course and before the second course started, Yves and Serge engaged in an epic battle between finger puppets.
The second course consisted of a large chicken that had been slow cooked in the oven much like Americans make thanksgiving turkey, and a roasted farce (Goose?) with chestnuts. Side dishes were bread and some mashed potatoes. I ate some dark meat from the chicken and some potatoes but the farce was delicious. Carole and Yves had owned electric salt/pepper dispensers which were a big hit during the dinner. At this point Lise had drunk enough wine to be a little tipsy and decided she wanted to duck face with my camera.
Dessert was what the French call a Christmas Log. It was a Tiramisu log with chestnuts and lots of Christmas decorations on top. Everyone added whipped cream to their dessert (Lise pointed out that it was real whipped
cream, not the plastic tasting stuff from the US). The dessert was very rich and delicious and we made sure the cat didn’t feel left out by giving her some whipped cream on a small dish. My brain was tired from 4 hours of straight cross-table French so I went upstairs to relax shortly after. I Skyped with my parents and enjoyed a few minutes of pretending I was at the North Carolina Lange Christmas Dinner. I was pretty tired afterwards so I went to bed.
Christmas day was spent waking up late and watching A Christmas Story (Lise’s first time). Dinner was not as extravagant but still good and Lise handed out the gifts that she forgot to hand out the previous day- A soap opera digest for her mom and some Biscuits Roses de Reims to be eaten with champagne.
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