Signs of Christmas in Carcassonne have been sprouting faster than mushrooms after a rain. Lights have been strung on the pedestrian shopping street.
More lights went up on the central square, Place Carnot. The fountain of Neptune was swathed with fake snow, because on the day of the photo temps were in the low 60s Fahrenheit. No snow in these parts. It’s supposed to get cold next week, which is just as well for the big ice rink that will take up much of the square.
The chalets for the Christmas market were installed. The market runs from Dec. 6 to Jan. 7 this year. It’s lively all day but best at night, when the lights are on. 
In general, the folks around here stick to low-key decorations. I’ve seen more people put up lights, but not as much as in the U.S.
There are some interesting interpretations of Christmas trees.
Another sign of the season: the arrival of Graisse de Noël (Christmas fat), which is a cross between Cantal cheese and butter. OMG it is fantastic.
The municipal workers also have been busy removing the frost-sensitive flowers and replacing them with hardier varieties like pansies, cyclamen and chrysanthemums. Having grown up with snow, I am enchanted by the idea of planting winter flowers.
We hope to get a tree this weekend, if they’re available. We are throwing a big holiday party (more on that coming soon…menu and recipes), so the decorations will rise beyond the usual.
Have you decorated yet? Real tree or fake? Less is more or more is more?
Taste of France 
WE usually decorate, but as I have many walls and ceilings still to paint, Christams decor is unlikely to constitute more than some ivy and an artistic branch or two
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That’s decorating on a different level.
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I’ve got eldest daughter and her husband here Friday to Sunday crossing with youngest daughter arriving Sunday for a week. Since I won’t see any of them at Christmas and I feel that I will regret not being a little festive even though I will spend the holiday on my own, I have invested in some lights and will be gathering foliage and decking the appartement a little. I may even run to a couple of baubles from the Christmas market which is set to start on Friday night here. Of course anything I do will be tame in comparison to the US which entirely overwhelmed me last year – but in a sort of indulgent and amused mother of an over-zealous child with eyes too big for it’s tummy way. The palm tree is surely appropriate – after all the Nativity took place in the desert 😉
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The longer France can stave off yuletide yard inflatables the better.
Enjoy your family visit!
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Agreed but I, as a visitor, tended to try and embrace it as a culture of it’s own rather than railroad it as an attrocity. The main thing that needs to be staved off is the ghastly consumer feeding frenzy … that is NOT what Christmas was intended to be. A season of peace and goodwill to all men would seem to be a good starting point ….
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Amen!
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I love the lights and natural decor. It’s the lights that make it all look so festive. Pray no one sets out a blow-up Santa or Snowman! My daughter and I comb our acreage for Red twig dogwood, curly willow, rosehips and assorted pines to fill the urns that held summer flowers earlier. Love the look. I’m going to put on my Christmas CDs right now…
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Lights–yes! Our party is for the festival of light, and we’ll have candles everywhere.
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It’s always a shock when we return home to see the the over the top decorations. Our small island is very tame in comparison to the rest of North America. I do love a tree and some natural greenery though. Maybe in a week or so….after jet lag.
Ali
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A live one, yes? They smell so good. I know some people who buy a live one with a root ball and then they plant it. Nice, if you have enough land.
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I have 3 small artificial trees that I’ve been using since about 2005, and are one of the few things I brought to France with me. I decorate them the day after thanksgiving and take them down on New Years day! I love them so keep them up as long as possible. They are old friends. Here in Provence I have not yet seem an inflatable santa or snowman, but it could happen. Snow is not likely.
bonnie near Carpentras
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Good for you! I have read anywhere from 8-20 years for an artificial tree to be “greener” than a real one. You’re either there or close.
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Yes! I’m there, I’ve had them at least ten years, and part of them is real wood! Of course I don’t know where it came from ….. As a child I hated to part with the dessicated drooping tree and sometimes I would plant it! Live trees are ok but who has the room for more trees? Which will become big I might add. I already have several large cypresses, pines and oaks, that niche is already taken.
bonnie
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We just put up our REAL Christmas tree and a few candles in the windows. We haven’t finished yet, but I’m excited for the season already. I don’t go for the inflatables or crazy yard decorations. So I’m more toward the less is more. But I still like enough to tell it’s Christmas❄️🎄
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Yes, it’s fun to have the extra bling for a month.
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Agreed!
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I just LOVE your photos and stories behind them. More please!
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Coming up Friday.
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Not all of us in the States fill our yards with inflatables and crazy lights. Our neighborhood embraces wreaths, maybe candles in the windows, perhaps luminaries. Restained but joyful!
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That sounds pretty. When our kid was not yet 2, my grandma died just before Christmas and we dashed back for the funeral and stayed for the holiday. As if she ensured we got together one more time; Christmas travel is so difficult I always chose a different period. Anyway, we drove around with our kid in ecstasy over the “noel lights,” which were indeed beautiful. But inflatables go too far!
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Lights inside and out will go on this Sunday – the first in December but will come down on the 6th of January. I enjoy being frugal with the electricity for the rest of the year so that my husband can’t complain! Not strictly true, but this has also been our tradition during our 40 plus years together.
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A good trade-off. Many people here have high walls or hedges around their yards, including from the street–privacy is paramount–so exterior lights mostly are hidden. With shutters, lights in the windows also are hidden. But the city streets and squares more than make up for it.
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That picture of the “fake snow” at the fountain gives me the idea of a big square of white felt cut on the edges to resemble icicles to put under Mom’s Christmas village. And the pallet Christmas Trees would be perfect for my sister’s pier. Lovely pictures and inspiration all in one! thanks!
-carol
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A pallet tree on a pier sounds quite beautiful.
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Oh I love it all. Even the fake snow, which by the time we got to “our town” in January was a soggy mess. One question…I thought mums were only for cemeteries…I was surprised to see them used as winter decor. Of course, here in NYC mums are everywhere in the late fall/early winter, along with Pansies, which always takes me by surprise! I so strongly associate them with spring. But they are hardy, and well suited to early winter, for sure!
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Yes, usually mums are just for cemeteries. I guess the municipality got a deal on them.
We might get snow this week! It already is snowing in much of France, and the forecast is for flurries even here.
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This was such a fun post. I love the pine branches on the sconces. Can’t wait to hear about your party.
Mary Ann
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Much recipe testing under way!
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I love the lights and candles and (modest amounts of) bling at this dark time of year. Some houses near me get a bit, er, carried away. One every year outlines the entire house and the big evergreens in front and all the bushes in blue lights — very creepy. And yesterday I saw a small front yard full of inflatable santa and candles and round ornaments, all of which shimmered. You have to be careful driving at dusk, the displays are so disconcerting that you forget to watch the road!
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Well! On the way home from Carcassonne tonight I saw one house very decked out and several others with lights in windows. Already! But there are no “front yards” in the American sense, so the decorations aren’t the same. The whole blue light thing can be pretty, and I guess they are LED lights, which use little electricity, but they aren’t very warm.
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CONTESSA HERE!!!!!!
MORE IS MORE!
REAL TREE………………BIG TREE.
Don’t know how well that will go over with the PIGGY BANKSY!!!!!!!
The ITALIAN will secure to the ceiling just in case HE decides to rub up against it or TAKE A BIG BITE!
Are you SURE AN AMERICAN does not live in THAT HOUSE THAT HAS USA ALL OVER IT!!!!!!!!
I think YOU SHOULD KNOCK!!!!!!!
XX
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Maybe the tree should be in one of those pet playpens.
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OR ON A TABLE!!!!!!!!!!!
HUSBAND will not GO SMALL!!!!!!!!!
XX
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You have beams on the ceiling, no? Can you suspend the tree upside down? I’ve seen that done and it’s pretty. Good luck!
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Oh, I love the way the French decorate. So tasteful and understated. Not American at all. That cheese looks divine. I’ll bring some beautiful flowers into the house. But that’s about it for decorating. I use the cards people send us to remind us of the season. Our kids are grown and live up north. We’ll be visiting and celebrating up there.
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Oh, my mom used to string up the Christmas cards as they arrived. Not the same with electronic delivery, is it?
Actually I miss seeing whole neighborhoods with houses lit up like fairyland. I said, like fairyland and not like a carnival. Some people do go too far.
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I love the understated and tasteful way the French decorate the front of their homes at Christmas. In my opinion, so much prettier than yards of blue lights and inflatable Simpson Santas! Each to their own though.
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As I mentioned, in general, houses are hidden behind high walls, or else the front door opens right on the sidewalk with no front yard. So the expanse for Simpson Santas is limited. Who knows what they might do if they had front yards open to the street!
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