At this very end of 2024, I’m reflecting on, for three years running now, I have been profoundly blessed to spend December in France. In 2022 I was in Paris, then last year in La Rochelle. At the moment I am in Bayeux, where I’ve only spent January and February until now.
I am here to tell you, that December in Bayeux is positively magical. Not that I’m surprised.
To begin my fabulous French mini-winter, I spent two glorious days in Paris with my soul sister Lydie. We caught up on our lives, visited our favorite haunts for great meals, and toured a bit of the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Among others, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison are buried there; this is apparently the most-visited cemetery in the world.
Lucky for me to have a very expert local guide! Cemeteries are not really my thing, but in those hours Lydie shared so much that was fascinating, and it was such special and peaceful experience on that cold December morning..
I arrived Bayeux on a rare-2024 Friday the 13th, one of my very favorite days. My dearest Milene and Etienne met me at the station and immediately invited me to spend Christmas with them, and my heart overflowed. When I landed at “my apartment” (4th time staying here), I felt so, so very happy and settled in right away.
Within the week I spent glorious coffee time with Milene, and delighted in shopping for groceries – having my timing concur with Le Marche on Saturday. With Milene’s incredible generosity, we decorated a tree in my home, gorgeous (lead foto)! I haven’t had a tree in 1000 years, so this has been such a source of pure joy each and every day. She and I also spent an entire afternoon baking cookies together, really really fun!
Since the afternoon I arrived, I’ve made daily visits to the beautiful Le Vaisselier boutique in town, owned by my loves, Stephane and Vinz. Each and every day, this ritual-of-sorts of hugs, kisses, and conversation has become like a daily dose of Love Infusion for me ... like honey stirring in my soul just to make my time here even sweeter; I positively love it.
My visits coincided with my traditional Christmas cookie-baking, so leading up to Christmas I brought various cookie samples to share. This incredible joy for everyone is still actually going on, to share the very last cookies. I also made cookie deliveries to other loves in town, on Christmas Eve and I adored their surprise and delight, it all made me so happy.
Added to all of that was meeting up with Pere Noel one night in the-twinkly-lit-up-town with Christmas music running day and night, such fun! Dining out a bit for the yummiest foods, especially morning coffee and pastries, gets added to speaking and understanding French so much better ... it’s all quite amazing and so very heart-nourishing.
My Christmas was a wonderful evening at the home of Milene, Etienne, and their pets, and it was perfect. We shared a delicious meal with an accent of truffles (SO delicious!) and our conversations flowed so nicely because my French and their English have both been practiced much this year! For once we didn’t have to use the translation app for every other word, how nice was that!
To wrap up here, I just want to say that back in November, when I learned I wouldn’t be spending Christmas with my precious Renata (stay tuned for the rest of that story, coming in January!), my heart felt very sore and, 11 seconds later my heart heard a gentle whisper. My angels promised that if I just showed up and trusted them, I would be extremely well-taken care of, in surprising and delightful ways.
It has been the season of miracles, just like they’d promised.
Love when that happens.
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