Christmas in Montréal. Part II

The Christmas Fairy decorates the tree


Although Christmas itself was quiet, the last couple of weeks have been full on. It all started with myself and the girls' whirlwind visit to England (a wonderful birthday present for Cassi and Christmas present for me from Steve!) The main purpose of the visit was for Cassi to be able to go to the pantomime in Malvern with my mum and my nieces - she had been so disappointed not to be going! But it was fab to catch up with family and a few friends too, although there was simply not time to do everything! It was certainly an experience making the flights with the two little ones, but to be fair they were brilliant, even with a delay on the way back.


Out on the Friday, back on the Monday - not even time to play while the cats were away ; )


Heading back to Blighty


Cassi, Niamh, Bethan and Nanma waiting for Aladdin!


We then had a couple of days to get ready for Christmas, wrap presents, pick up the duck from the village boucherie, and settle in for a quiet family Christmas in France. The festivities kicked off on Christmas Eve with a firework display set against the backdrop of the cité of Carcassonne, which was truly remarkable.


Christmas Eve (and Christmas Cassi) at the fireworks


Christmas day was very much enjoyed by Cassi, as all we seemed to do was open presents and eat chocolate cake, and was observed by Edie who enjoyed eating the paper, and playing with and biting her new toys.


Like pigs in...


We had planned a trip up the mountains to find some snow on Boxing Day, but as it turned out we couldn't get far because the snow came looking for us. We woke up to white scenes and so spent the day building a snowman and then went sledging to try out Cassi's new sledge, near some woods in the village. Fantastic!


No, this isn't the snowman!


This is just what we bought the Landy for

Want to see something funny? Watch Edie in this clip...


[btw: Old video clip of Cassi's first ever crawl is now on Youtube for those who haven't seen it - or those who want to see it again]

Christmas in Montréal. Part I

No office parties, continual re-occurences of the same songs on the radio, and the other usual festive activites this year. Instead, here's a snapshot of the lead up to our French noél season.

We'll add to this over the next week or so, but to to get the Xmas ball rolling here's a quick vid clip from the concert put on by Cassi's school (Ecole Maternelle) and the Primary in the village, held in the Salle Polyvalente. The day started for the kids with a mass Xmas lunch, which looked like a cross between a scene from the work house in Oliver! and the canteen from Hi-De-Hi! Then us parents were invited to watch the performances as each class/year from the schools did their own thing. It was soo touching to see - but we would say that, she's our daughter!

For those with an eagle eye, watch as the lad on Cassi's left tries to hold her hand, and her reaction to this unwanted attention...



And here's some scene-setting pix from Carcassonne. The town had a full programme of activities taking place across various locations to celebrate the festive period, including a big ferris wheel, luge runs, fireworks and ice skating...


Cassi and I on the Reindeer and sleigh kids rollercoaster (fortunately, not too hairy that one!)


Square Gambetta, Carcassonne


Edie and me on the big wheel with the Cité behinds us - wicked view from up there


Place Carnot in the centre of the walled town, below the lights is an ice rink - video below