Letters to Pere Noel

The girls ponder what to ask Pere Noel for

MARSEILLE - The girls found an easy way to make sure Santa, errr, Pere Noel, finds them in France. A stand at the Christmas market in Marseille was a one-stop shop: pens (the cool, real ink kind that you have to keep dipping), paper, envelopes, stamps, even Ol' Saint Nick's address. A very helpful bi-lingual elf was staffing the stand, and patiently walked them through the instructions, and then helped seal the letters with a traditional wax seal on the back of the envelope. Nice.

Hard to write with gloves on

He dutifully explained that there was three different piles he needed to sort the letters into - Really good kids, just OK kids, and naughty kids. Of course, our girls have been really good, so that was the easiest part of the whole process. Trying to translate some of the more obscure Polly Pocket toys into French was a bit more difficult. But we all know Santa Claus speaks every language.

The scene on this chilly, rainy Saturday night was very Christmasy with shoppers bustling around the crowded street, stores open late, and a pretty large Christmas market - although the section we stumbled across (because of its proximity to the parking) was filled mostly with santon displays. This is a big deal in France - huge nativity-like scenes that are actually miniature representations of an entire village. You can buy the figurines in all sorts of sizes and they have people, animals, and buildings of all sorts. And the prices are as wide-ranging as the characters.

Big sister makes sure the address is right

Everything is Blue & White in Marseille!

We like visiting Marseille because it has a whole different energy than Aix - a bit rougher around the edges but fun and exciting in a big city kind of way. Plus, it has an Olympique Marseille gift shop so Candie could pick up a soccer shirt for Patrick fro Christmas. We ended the evening with a boulabaisse quite appropriate for the weather conditions (after which the waiter slipped my wife his phone number in some sort of strange pick-up attempt - she's still got it..by "it" I mean the ability-to-elicit-young-mens-numbers "it", not the number itself. But I think she kept the dude's  number, too). That episode was followed by an American-break at the Starbucks, the only one we've managed to find in all of Provence so far (I am sure my virtual friend Sarah will point out if there are any others!). I made a mental note to return in any case, not just for a taste of home, but because the North African guy working the counter is a Celtic's fan.