Le temps des fêtes

     This is a very complicated time of the year for me. On one hand, now that I'm a Baha'í, I'm not supposed to be celebrating my previous religion's holy days and on the other hand, this time of year is when my cultural French Canadian heritage is most celebrated(Le temps des fêtes) , and I also really enjoy the beauty of the season. So what's a girl to do?

     Well, I've realized a few things this year (that is, after the holidays). Christmas is complicated, I will not give up my cultural traditions and I will not let others make me feel guilty for loving and celebrating  this time of year.  Long before I became a Baha'í, I stopped seeing Christmas as a religious holiday. It's not that I stopped believing in Christ and his birth but that I came to understand why it is celebrated on December 25th and where all the traditions come from. I decided then, that Christmas, for me, like so many others, would be a cultural holiday and not a religious one.  When Alex came along and was old enough to understand, we told him about the birth of Christ but we also told him that no one really knew when he had been born. As for Santa, well we never told him that he existed but we never said he didn't. We let him realize that on his own and instead concentrated on the spirit of Christmas, a time for loving, sharing, giving... but also a time for appreciating his Finnish and French-Canadian background and family traditions. This has been a little more difficult since we've been in Europe. Mauri's traditions we're quite simple and only spanned a couple of days but mine start on Christmas Eve and go on until New Years Day and include foods(tourtière, ragoût de boulette) only prepared and eaten at this time of year, stories like "La chasse galerie" and songs (chanson à répondre), passer la guignolée (visiting from home to home and telling stories and singing) and ending with a tradition that my great-grandmother started, spending the day with extended family whilst eating, singing and being merry. 

gift for our neighbours

     As for celebrations, I prefer to celebrate winter, as I know it, and all its beauty and frigidity while waiting for the first signs of spring.  We do have a tree with lights but it’s decorated with icicles, snowflakes(that I’ve made) and forest animals. Every year, I try to add to the winter wonderland feel so that during those dark months of winter(November until the end of January for us), we can enjoy the glow of lights and the warmth of home as we wait for the great outdoors to catch up. During all of this, we remember and sometimes participate with our friends and fellow humans as they celebrate Diwali, Chanukha, Christmas,  Yule, Kwanzaa, New Year and  Epiphany. It helps us understand, accept and appreciate others. We hope everyone had great holidays filled with new memories.

Lots of love from us xo

p.s. You’ll notice from the photos that we did celebrate and exchange gifts this Christmas since my niece and her husband joined us from Frankfurt. 

Merry Christmas!

Winter tree

Les vendanges

    Every year, at the beginning of October, we see signs for different "festival du vins nouveaux" (new wine festival). Many of the small towns and villages celebrate the momentous event of "la vendange"(the harvest); well not just any harvest but specifically the wine grape harvest.  A time when the once quiet vineyard patchwork becomes dotted with workers trying to get most of the grapes off of the vines.  I expected it to be a very obviously busy time, yet last year we missed it all. One week there were grapes on the vines and the next, they were gone, and honestly, I still didn't see anyone in the vineyards of Wihr-au-Val, this year. 

Wihr-au-Val from the vineyards

     This year we were forewarned.  Someone at Alex's diving club invited us to join them for their celebration of the vins nouveaux, the following weekend.  So for that week, when we went into town or out for a drive, we made a point of keeping watch. Eventhough, we saw lots of vans, trucks and tractors with crates and baskets ready for the picking or filled with grapes, I don't think, we actually saw someone picking. Very strange!

     As for this celebration, it seems that our host has a patch of vineyard of his own and therefore makes his own grape juice and wine every year. So, this celebration marks the end of all the hard work and the beginning of the waiting period until he can uncork that first bottle and enjoy his wine.  It was a truly enjoyable evening with a small group of people sitting around a table enjoying food and conversation.  The fare seemed to be traditional for this occasion and for this region. The first course was a platter of meat, pork to be precise. It consisted of cooked ham, Italian thin sliced ham(like Prociutto), smoked pork, gendarmes(like a pepperoni stick), salami slices, chorizo slices and finally little bite sized dry sausages. It was all served with homemade bread, grapes and freshly picked walnuts on individual wooden boards, called plancha.  The second course was a variety of cheese with more bread and grapes and a new bottle of wine.  Then came desert, coffee(expresso as they say in France) and the strong stuff(eau de vie).  We had brought a pumpkin cheesecake, hoping that everyone would like it, since squash is not used in desserts here, and most did. The flavours resemble the pain d'épice served year round and used either on its own or as a base for sweet and savoury apéro(starters).

Looking up into the vineyards of Wihr-au-Val

The vineyards have become quiet again but not completely empty. It seems that some of the smaller bunches of grapes have been left on the vine. Will they leave them there for the birds or will they pick them later for a sweeter wine? I'll let you know.

'Til next time,

Julie