Joyeux Noel - Happy Christmas

Liege took a while to get into the swing of things compared to NZ but this is probably because the Belgians celebrate the Feast of St Nicholas on December 6 first.

Finally the decorations started going up and the Christmas markets opened.Huge fir trees or 'sapins' dominated the public squares and beautiful lights were hung above the cobblestoned streets. At night, it truly looked like a magic place. At first the crowds seemed quite sombre but as Christmas approached there were more smiles and happy faces.  At school, there were more christmas trees and poinsettias or Rose de Noel  dotted around the staffroom and corridors. Amazingly, most students were not tempted to throw the decorations about!

Our chorale was to have sung at the Christmas market in Place St Lambert but following the tragic events there, no-one had the heart for it (we were to sing a range of international songs rather than Christmas Carols) and so we had a pot-luck dinner and sing-song at one of the member's homes instead. (I made lemonade scones with jam and cream which were moderately more successful than the pavlovas!)

Granny's grandchildren and I helped to put up the Christmas tree and decorate it here. Granny doing a few last minute changes to our arrangement  for the sake of balance and beauty.

On Christmas Eve (Reveillon) , I had been invited to Chantal and Guy-Michel's for their family Christmas. First of all we opened the presents from under the tree. (Chantal had a very beautiful tree decorated with silver, white and clear ornaments) The expense of Christmas was kept to a minimum as we had already drawn a name each of someone else to buy for. I had drawn Chantal and bought her earrings. I was the recipient of a grey-blue scarf from Julien and Chantal and Guy-Michel also gave me a Le Chat diary. Le Chat is a cartoon figure who is  famous in  Belgium for his comments on Belgian society.

We ate and drank ( of course). Everyone had made an apero/aperitif  - my effort was soda water scones with

cream cheese and salmon (not very original but reasonably safe in the cooking department!) The main meal was a pierrade. This involved us cooking pieces of meat and prawns on a large hotplate which sat in the middle  of the table. The meat was accompanied by three different sauces and a large green salad. It was a fun, communal way of eating. Afterwards for dessert, we ate a simple and delicious  zabaglione made  by Chantal's mother.   http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zabaglione/  A little later in the evening, I went to Midnight Mass with Chantal's mum, Genevieve.  On my return to Granny's, sometime after 1am, I skyped my family who were mostly at Kate and Howard's for Christmas lunch. It was great to see those who were there briefly (they were all keen to eat lunch!)

Christmas Day - I accompanied Granny to 11 am Mass in the city of Liege - quite a contrast to the night before as the church for midnight mass was much more modern and homely. I certainly did overtime on the religious services over Christmas but it's all part of the culture! Granny gave me a great little calendar 'une lecon de francais par jour calendrier'. Some of it is a little advanced for my level but it is all adding to my learning.

I gave Granny a grapefruit knife and spoon (it might not have been top of your Xmas wishlist but Granny likes grapefruit), some chocolat de luxe and some creme de figues du vinaigre - delicious.  If I could, I bring the latter home with me  but it doesn't come in a sealed bottle and I don't know what ag and fish  would say.

Christmas Night, Granny and I got a lift with Quentin (One of Granny's grandsons who occasionally has a conversation class with me - we speak French for half an hour and then English for half and hour) and his girlfriend to Chez Phillippe et Cecile (Granny's oldest son and his partner). Most of Granny's extended family was there (She had had the whole family the night before - I was invited too but chose to go to Chantal's). We had a lovely evening and drank (champagne - the French variety) and ate very well. Salmon followed by the traditional Buche Noel or Christmas log for dessert. Unfortunately, the photo below is not the actual cake because I forgot to take my camera. It looked quite like this though. As well as chocolate flavoured, they come in fresh cream and coffee flavoured.

Granny also made a delicious dessert that was in the shape of a log with sponge fingers on the bottom (soaked in alcohol) then covered in chocolate mousse which was put in a loaf tin mould and kept in the freezer. On the night she defrosted it and smothered it in whipped cream and chocolate - scrumptious.

So that was my Christmas in Belgium - lots of eating and drinking but more importantly lots of good company.