Dreaming of France -- We Come Bearing Gifts

Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

I love having French friends. They teach us so much about the country we love. They give us good food and a place to stay whenever we visit. They've showed us so many fascinating things and popped the cork on numerous bottles of wine.

On our upcoming visit, we aren't staying with our friends, but they are going to meet us in Paris to celebrate our friend Danuta's birthday.
I have the hardest time figuring out what presents to take someone who is French when I visit from the United States. On our last visit, we hadn't planned to stay with them so I didn't take a present. When we went at the last minute, I bought macarons from Lauduree. The whole family loved them, of course, because they are French.
So here's my latest idea for a present.
What if I make copies of photos of our families from each of the 9 visits we shared in France? I can put the photos in a photo album and give it to her for her birthday.

 But I don't know. I'm too close to it. Is that a good idea for a gift for a French friend? Does anyone have some better ideas? I'm running out of time.
Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please visit each other's blog so you can share the joy with other Francophiles.

I Got a Rock

Sending Tucker off to France last week, we all had high hopes for gifts that he would bring back.

He brought me some yummy dark chocolate. Grace got a soft, orange scarf.

Earl got a rock.

"I know this seems lame," he said as he handed Earl the smooth, brown stone, but it came from Omaha Beach.

He showed us a picture he had taken on the beach with the rock in his hand.

Tucker knows that his dad is a history buff and has always wanted to visit the Normandy beaches where the Allies launched an offensive against German-occupied France in World War II. Omaha Beach is one of those beaches. He also took pictures of the inside of the pillboxes, defensive structures the Germans had built to fight against the invasion. The roofs of the pillboxes were scorched from the fighting.
In an attempt to redeem himself for the rock, Tucker also gave us a bottle of wine. He had pictures from the cave that they toured and where he purchased a 10 Euro bottle of wine. He didn't say if he tasted several in an attempt to find the right wine.
We were a little surprised that he was allowed to bring it in to the U.S. since he's under 21, but we didn't question it.
We enjoyed some wine on the front porch last night and it was delicious.

Christmas Complete

I'm not good at preparing -- preparing for parties, preparing for Christmas. I'm always stressed about it. Once a party or Christmas starts, I'm fine, but the prep makes me grumpy.
This year, between traveling to pick up kids in college and trying to throw a 75th birthday party for my mother, I was extra harried. Well, the party was cancelled due to a stomach virus that passed through my parents and brother's family, but we still got to celebrate Christmas.
I think this pic of the cat amidst the debris of Christmas summed it all up pretty well.

And the kids looked pretty satiated afterward too.

After we celebrated at home Christmas morning, we were headed to Earl's sister's house and there we would see little Caroline. I had planned to sew a princess dress for her, and Christmas morning it wasn't finished. Grace helped me put elastic in the puffy sleeves and I ironed, pinned and hemmed the dress as I watched the clock tick past the time we were to arrive. Earl and the boys went on without us as I continued to work on the dress. Finally, we finished and, although it's far from perfect, Caroline loved it.

Hope your Christmas was magical and created many fond memories, like mine did.

Hope and Charity

I have to say I've been a little discouraged lately about giving. You may recall that one side of the family decided to give gifts to a needy family rather than exchanging gifts with each other.
For some reason, even though this wasn't my idea, I became the point person to find a family and organize the gift buying for them. The family, with three kids, does not have heat in their apartment. So after the toys were purchased, I suggested we all donate the rest of the money we would spend on each other toward their gas bill to get heat.
Let me just say that none of us spent as much on the family as we would have on each other, but the person who spent the most is probably the one who earns the least. I was feeling discouraged about the goodness of wealthy people. Maybe people who have more, give less.
Then, just this week, I asked the basketball team families if they would be interested in helping a local family who has fallen on hard times. The family with four kids have been living on mac n cheese for 3 months and have only one inexpensive gift for the entire family on Christmas morning. It's a puppy, so the parents hope to maintain some Christmas surprise and excitement. I felt so bad though, and also felt like many of us could slide into this kind of trouble if one spouse lost a job.
So I sent an email to the basketball families and told them that a local family needed their help, without actually naming the family. Many of the basketball families immediately responded that they would donate gift cards for Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers.
Then on Saturday while I was at a swim meet, Grace called me to say a man she didn't know stopped by and dropped off a 100 dollar bill for the family in need. I couldn't believe it. I thought people would donate $25 gift cards to the local grocery stores, not 100 dollar bills. I stared at the 100 dollar bill and imagined how thrilled my friend will be to buy some gifts for her kids.
Then on Sunday, I drove to my brother's house to visit my parents. When I got home, I found a little stocking with a gift card in it. The gift card to Walmart was for $300. $300!!! Someone donated a $300 gift card to the family.
So these basketball families have given me hope that even people with money are generous and want to help those who are in need.

Packages on Porches

So after whining about not getting enough presents last week, there it was on my front porch -- a long white package, placed there by the mailman.
I carried it inside and tore open the end without even looking at the addressee or the return address. I just knew it was for me.
And this is what I found.

What could this be, you ask? Look at the gorgeous presentation, the sage colored outer wrapping and the party-atmosphere raffia cords tying it closed.
Then I looked at the card.

Yes! My Provence Rug had arrived, and pretty quick too.
My blogging friend Delana in Aix en Provence and another blogger in North Carolina at An Eye for Detail started a business together -- Provence Rugs. In addition to rugs, they also sell trays and bowls and soap dishes in Provencal materials. (And they're offering 10 percent off through Wednesday.)
Anyway, enough promoting Delana's glorious business, back to me and my mystery package.
So I unrolled it and there I saw the beautiful "Rosehip Red" rug with the little golden cigales along the border.
I placed the rug in front of my door where it immediately received cat approval.