Christmas in Toulouse

Another Retro-Flashback Post…

A few days before Christmas we piled into the car and headed to Toulouse to have the first holiday celebrations with our French family since I was 17. It had been a long, long time since I had been with our French relatives during the holidays, and I was excited to see Gilbert, Luce, Fouad, Cathie and Julia.

We made good time to Toulouse with a trunk stuffed full of clothes, presents and stuffed toys, stopping only once at one of the numerous Aires (rest stops) along the way to get coffee and the requisite candy required to make long drives.

We arrived at Cathie’s house in the late afternoon and joined them for dinner. They had just visited us a few weeks earlier, but it was still fun catching up with them, playing cards and drinking wine. They really know how to relax and welcome company.

Christmas Eve

The following day Fouad, the girls and I were invited to take a tour of the Airbus A380 assembly line. Ann wasn’t allowed to come because she was American (apparently special clearance is required for non EU citizens, and super-special clearance is required of people from Seattle), and no photos were allowed during the tour.

We pulled up outside of the Airbus visitors center. A Concorde and one of the original Airbus planes were parked just outside. A vacant lot nearby was filled with old fighter aircraft. I was getting antsy with excitement.

We stepped into a very nice, modern facility and purchased tickets (tours are not cheap) and waited for about 20 minutes for things to get started.

I was hoping we’d get to walk through the factory floor and see the planes from up close – but unfortunately it wasn’t allowed. After a brief presentation showing how they did test flights and simulations, they ushered us onto a bus, drove us up to a huge hanger where we exited the bus and stepped into a lobby with a bank of elevators. No planes were in sight.

The guide started to point to various signs on the wall, reminding us that photography was prohibited. He then gave us a 20 minute presentation explaining where the different parts of the A380 were made across Europe. All of this was in French – and without any airplanes in sight, the girls started getting restless. By the end of the 20 minutes they were starting to bounce off the walls.

We took an elevator up more than five stories (in fact the building is as tall as the Arc de triumph in Paris) and stepped into a room with a wall of windows overlooking the assembly floor. Three A380s were in various stages of assembly before us in a massive hanger, but they looked small from the distance at which we were viewing them. It was weird – because the A380 isn’t small – it’s massive and they should have been incredibly impressive. The girls were momentarily excited and then started fidgeting after admiring the planes for about 2 minutes.

Since it was a few days before Christmas, the factory workers were all on vacation. The hanger was empty. No activity at all. At this point the guide started talking about the assembly line and the process through which the planes are built. It’s an unbelievable logistical challenge, and their processes are extremely impressive. Unfortunately, 8 and 10 year olds don’t really care about logistics.

About 20 minutes later the tour was over. The guide ushered us back into the elevator onto the bus and back to the visitor center. All in all the experience was a 2/10. Assembling an aircraft is an incredible engineering feat. A quick walk through the hanger would have been an amazing experience. I was disappointed that Airbus did the bare-bones minimum on this tour to showcase the incredible technical accomplishments they’ve made. Overall it failed to impress or even capture the imagination of our kids. It’s definitely a missed opportunity for them.

That afternoon we cruised around the shops in Toulouse and took in the sights. We visited the cathedral and saw the crèche. As we wandered through the cathedral, Josie must have felt very comfortable and relaxed because she began whistling. It wasn’t a loud whistle, but rather a soft one you could barely hear. Still, a man tending to the candles heard her and angrily asked her to stop. Fun and whistling is not allowed in church on Christmas eve! Sacrilege!

 

We left the Cathedral, head bowed having been properly disgraced on this day of peace and loving to discover that the Christmas market was still going strong. We meandered through, catching happy Christmas elves who didn’t mind whistling and meandered through shops.

   

Ann took a fine collection of pictures of storefront windows to give you an idea of how they were decorated. We purchased a few last-minute gifts, and headed back for Reveillon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

That evening was the Christmas celebration. Gilbert and Luce came over and the whole family assembled at Fouad and Cathie’s house for Reveillon. Presents were opened, kisses and thanks were exchanged, and a huge meal of seafood was served.

My French family has it’s origins in Bretagne, which means that there’s a deep connection to the sea. In the US you’d expect to have ham or turkey on Christmas Eve – maybe even a roast. In France, the majority of French families celebrate Reveillon with “Fruit de Mer” which basically means shellfish.

Gilbert shucked oysters and other shellfish while Fouad loaded them up in a big Styrofoam boat with ice. Soon it was covered in oysters, crab, mussels, shrimp, and lots of other smaller shellfish. The boat was stacked high and placed in the center of the table.

 

  

  

 

 

Wine was poured and everyone dug in, taking what he or she wanted from the centerpiece. There were more oysters and crab than we could eat (which is saying something – Ann is an expert crab eater). Even the girls sampled the seafood.

We finished the main course, and had a second course of pastry-filled seafood potpies. There was a ton of seafood.

We ended the meal with cheese and chocolate. J Stories were told, we laughed, had fun and teased Ann about her pronunciation of “pouce” and “puce”, and Fouad about his pronunciation of “Google”. All in all it was a great evening – lots of fun, and a wonderful way to spend the holiday.

Christmas Day

We awoke late in the morning on Christmas day as we had all stayed up rather late the night before. The girls found a few new gifts under the tree and busied themselves with opening them as we prepared a light breakfast.

Soon it was time to head off to Gilbert and Luce’s for Christmas Lunch. We piled into the car and drove over to their apartment where they gave us a warm greeting. Wine was once again poured as we snacked on nuts, chips and other goodies that Luce had put out for us. We talked for a long while about my Dad and Gilbert recounted some of his adventures delivering planes to the CIA during the Vietnam war.

When lunch was ready, we were shooed to the table by Luce. Coquilles St. Jacques were served along with chicken and potatoes. Again – lots of wine, laughing, good-natured teasing, political discussions and storytelling.

I have to say that every time I see Gilbert I’m reminded of my dad and have flashbacks of Christmas in Brest as a child. We’ve been out of contact with the French side of our family for so long that it’s amazing how welcoming they’ve been. There’s a strong culture of family here – we share common roots and that counts for a lot. Luce and Gilbert are incredible. I really look forward to spending more time with them.

After Lunch we headed into Toulouse to walk around. Unlike other cities in France, Toulouse is almost entirely built from brick. This gives the city a very different character than Paris or Aix. It’ amazing how cities really have an overriding palette of color which characterize them. Red for Toulouse, Grey for Paris, Orange for Aix, and of course rain-colored for Seattle.

The sky was dark as we parked our car and headed into town. Christmas lights were strung across streets and along boulevards. Store windows glimmered with Christmas cheer. We walked around and admired the decorations. The city was beautifully decorated.

 

We headed back home after strolling through town and had a light dinner. The last few days had been long and we were leaving to Barcelona the next day, so we turned in early – happy to get some rest.

All in all it was a fantastic Christmas with our French family. They welcomed us with open arms and made us all feel at home. It was great to be surrounded and loved by them.