A Cariad Life

It’s Christmas Day! I hope it has been a wonderful, peaceful, and special holiday for each of you! Caleb, Noah, and Chloe arrived very late on Monday night (about five minutes after midnight and after 3 flights and two layovers). By the time we pulled up to our B&B, it was almost 2am and they had been traveling for well over 24 hours–they were exhausted! This past week, we have enjoyed spending time together making Beef Bourguignon with mashed potatoes, Pasta Carbonara (Caleb’s speciality), Steak Frites (with the frites cooked in duck fat and perfectly paired with Chloe’s aioli), and tonight, Duck Confit. We’ve wandered through countless villages and their churches, had a real 3 course French lunch, toured numerous Christmas markets, snacked on crepes and beignets, and played ruthless rounds of “spicy” Uno. Last night, on Christmas Eve, I made the mother of all fires in the dining room fireplace and the entire place smelled and looked of Christmas.

This morning was also new for us in that we had no store-bought presents for one another–our gift to the three of them had been to fly them out to France, and their gift to us was to write a card to each of us with sweet messages from the three of them. Both of our boys are waiting to start their jobs in the new year, and Darrell and I cannot start the B&B until January 20, so we all needed to be frugal. The cards were sitting in the tree when we got up, and we read them over our breakfast of bacon, quiche, toast with jam, eggs, clementines, and coffee. Darrell and I were quite teary after reading how our walk in this venture has inspired them and their heartfelt words of gratitude and love.

After all of these years of Santa and presents, this year was a simple and kind Christmas. Over breakfast, we talked about Christmas traditions and what we appreciated–interestingly, we didn’t talk about the gifts we received in the past. I don’t know that next Christmas will be this simple, and we will most likely buy gifts for one another again. However, this one was special. Darrell and I feel incredibly grateful for this journey, for this place we have the opportunity to call home. He and I took some time, before the kids got up, to talk about and write down the things we are most grateful for. It was a beautiful way to start the day.

One of my joys this week was to introduce the boys to the Friday market of our village–it runs every week, year-round, from about 9am–1pm and features not just home and household items, but every kind of food you can imagine. We bought meats, vegetables, and cheeses for our Christmas dinners. Chloe bought a beautiful French basket for 20 euros. Noah told me that he was very proud of the fact that I was able to order our duck legs completely in French from a stall owner who seemingly didn’t speak any English (or maybe he just thought I was French!) After the market, we went to Bar Du Midi for lunches of salads and sandwiches and then went for a long walk around the village.

Chloe has commented that French Christmas decorations are beautiful and much less understated than American ones. Each village has their own beautiful type of lights on the lamp posts and every business has real Christmas trees outside on the sidewalk. We noticed that before Christmas, the Baby Jesus was not in any of the manger scenes of the churches we visited, but today–Christmas Day–the baby is in the manger! We did buy a Buche De Noel for our dessert tonight, but we should have bought another baguette as the boulangerie is closed today–and more Champagne is always a good idea! Caleb told me that next year, I should add a lit Christmas tree to our courtyard. I’ve added a picture of one I saw in a courtyard in Sarlat–magical! Below are pictures of Perigueux (my favorite French town in our region) and Bordeaux–France really is magical at Christmas.

Over the last week, Darrell and I have also been updating the Booking.com and AirBNB sites–the website is next. As of now, both of these sites allow people to book with us into the coming year–Repos à Ribérac in Riberac, France. We are still working on finding a car and a portion of our bed has arrived (slats are still on their way). Every time I get frustrated about how long some of these things are taking, I realize that we are making steady steps forward. I also consider that last Christmas at this time, I would never believe that by now we would both have resigned our jobs, sold our home, bought a new home in France, moved to France, and begun working at building our B&B. So much has happened in a year!

Now, we are all on the cusp of 2023–the next 365 days hold so much opportunity, possibility, and potential for all of us. I want to lean in and make every day count–“leave it all on the court” as my basketball-loving husband says. I hope and pray each of you continue to dream (big, hairy, audacious dreams) and then step into those dreams–I trust that 2023 will be for you the best one yet. I will continue to write about these adventures, what I am learning and who I am becoming. Have a wonderful New Year!