Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Read regular guest posts about a Kiwi living abroad in a non-English speaking country.

If you celebrate Christmas and New Year, I hope they were both excellent. I guess it’s a funny time of year to be overseas, and away from most of your family and friends who you would normally celebrate with. Every family has their own rituals and traditions – in my family, Father Christmas always gives us a “goody bag” filled with lollies and fruit which we munch on while opening our Christmas presents. It’s the one time of year I don’t feel guilty eating lollies before breakfast! For lunch we have a BBQ with salmon, mum’s spinach pie, and trifle* duty is usually delegated to my brother.

This year, however, things were different! I spent Christmas in Paris, and on Christmas Day itself I stayed with my two Kiwi friends, Barbara and Ian. We all brought our own touches of our families’ traditions to the day. I fried a piece of salmon for my lunch, while Barbara and Ian managed to roast a whole chicken in their wee bench top oven. And for dessert we made pavlova* topped with kiwifruit – just like home! But instead of lounging around outside in the sun, we rugged up and had mulled wine inside, then went for a crisp snowy walk through the park in the evening. It was my first white Christmas, and in that respect at least it did feel a little bit more Christmassy. I even had my goody bag in the end – a bag of Jet Plane lollies in the post (thanks mum and dad!) and Barbara and Ian put a shoebox full of yummy treats outside my door on Christmas morning.

Altogether I spent eleven days in Paris. At the beginning of the trip I started each day full of energy and enthusiasm and crammed in as many sights and museums as I could. By the end, I was starting to feel tired of being around people all the time, and missing the comforts of home. I decided to book two nights in a cheap hotel to catch my breath. Unlike in a hostel, you’re not locked out during the day, and just having my own bathroom and TV was a nice relief.  I also found some Paris spots where I could just sit quietly and be undisturbed – like the Georges Pompidou Centre, which is basically a big library (thanks for the tip, mum). I discovered that the cinema was also a nice place to have two hours’ quiet relief from Paris craziness!

Of course now, back in Saint-Nazaire and back into the swing of work and normal life, I have great memories of my Paris trip. It’s true that when you look back on a holiday, you mostly remember the highs. So I will be keeping that in mind for my next journey in France, wherever it may be.

(*Trifle and pavlova are two types of dessert often eaten in New Zealand at Christmas and New Year. Sometimes pavlova is topped with kiwifruit, sometimes with strawberries.)

Mihiata  – Saint Nazaire, France