Christmas in Antibes

Time to complete the trifecta and add a final instalment to my guest blogging before I hand the keys to the keyboard back to Ginger.

As I passed by a school on Friday at 4:30, I heard a couple of students happily proclaiming "Les vacances sont partis!" and a warmth spread through me as the memory kicked in of the joyous sensation of wishing my students "Happy Holidays" combined with the realization that I had survived to yet another Christmas vacation.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas abroad, I have to admit that at times being away from home is so very hard.  We love our house at Christmas time and this year there is even snow back home which just adds to the misery (maybe a little bit of dramatism for literary gain!)  The girls have been missing their house, their friends and their family.  Lily for one has been quite upset that "we don't even have a Christmas tree dad!"  Well, the village of Antibes has done their part to try and uplift our spirits, so on Saturday, the girls and I set out to find some holiday cheer (it was Lily's birthday as well).

Throughout the town, Christmas displays are set up.  This is the display at Place de Gaulle.

There is a small Christmas market just outside of the Old City that definitely was bringing a holiday vibe.  Grace loves going here every day to buy a local delicacy called Socca.  It is made with chickpea flour and is delicious.  On Saturday we even bought the ingredients to make it at home. 

We continued our tour through town to Place Nationale where there are rides set up for children.  There was one ride that the girls figured was old enough for them so they had a couple of spins on this classic:

We made our way back to the Pres-aux-Pecheurs square which is definitely the epicentre of Christmas cheer in Antibes.  They have an outdoor ice rink which combined with a chilly 5-degree evening and some fake snow, transported us to a winter wonderland.

It seems like ages ago that we arrived in Antibes and one of our first activities was to ride La Grande Roue to get a view of the city.  Lily has been asking for a return trip for quite a while and since it was her birthday, I decided that we had to take another spin.  

 Grace took this from the top of the Grande Roue.

The girls even managed to get a few last minute requests into Santa.

After the Grande Roue, we had a hot chocolate and a candied apple, and I was so happy to hear Lily proclaim "This has probably been one of my best birthdays ever!"

As we made our way back to our apartment, the three of us all agreed that Antibes has done a great job of bringing holiday cheer into our lives.