Salut, my friend, the Stationary Traveler! Having you here with us in the South of France for the Christmas Holidays is Tres Bien! Your company is a present for me and today we’ll see how they celebrate the holidays in the big city! Well, actually it’s a small city, but it’s the biggest one in our department of the Pyrenees Orientales. What am I talking about? Oh, I mean let’s go to the Christmas Market in Perpignan. Bring your camera, because the city will be decked out for the holidays. Even the drive there is worth a photo or two. It’s a beautiful day as we drive out of the village on a small lane and your eyes are filled with a vista of the Roussillon Plane with its golden miles of vineyards and rows of poplar trees. Farther down the road, a row of plane trees frame the route like sculptures whose bare branches with bark of mottled smoky gray and pale ash create interesting patterns against the Wedgewood blue of a cloudless sky.
We arrive in Perpignan where the streets look like Marseilles or Nice but in miniature. The buildings are just as grand, but are on a scale that feels intimate. We park and come out in the large, open Place de la Republic, a square surrounded by colorful apartments and an Opera Theatre. On the ground floors of most of the apartments stand shops or cafes that are bright with lights and Christmas decorations. A few balconies have been festooned with tinsel and small boxes decorated to look like presents. They move in the light breeze and sparkle in the bright morning sunshine.
You and I find a seat in the sun at the Café Le Petit Mocha. Its sunny yellow chairs and placement near the fountain give it a certain animation. We sip our warm drinks and watch shoppers go by. If you are feeling hungry, I can recommend the Paninis, such a great hot pressed sandwich. If you don’t like the combos on the menu, just ask and they will make a sandwich the way you want it. My parents told me “Croque Monsieur”, traditional hot ham and cheese sandwiches, are really good. Oh yeah, and “les frites” (the fries) are to die for!
We leave the café and stroll along the boulevards admiring the dark red marble of the sidewalks veined in white. The older buildings have wooden shutters and that one on the corner has a framework of wooden beams and a faded white façade that reminds me of a scene from a fairy tale. We end up down by the Castillet, a tall red-brick building that looks like a castle and was once a defensive gate. It’s a surprise to find that the Place de la Victoire is filled with people ice-skating right here in the heart of the city! No, we’re not imagining it, they really have set up a rink and frozen ice for the season. Oh sure, feel free, it’s five Euros for adults and the skates are provided. Me? Oh no, I’ll be sitting over there at the Café de France. Don’t worry, I’ll enjoy watching!
Eventually, we start out again for the market. On our right runs the Canal de Perpignan, its banks decorated with long well-kept lawns and pretty flower beds. The left side of the street is lined with large glass-fronted stores, every one displaying an artistic delight of Christmas gift ideas. We reach Quai Vabaun where the market awaits. Ahead we can see rows of small pointy-roofed wooden buildings with open fronts and counters displaying their wares. Look at those stalls! Every one is a wooden chalet hung with Christmas lights and decorations. The snow is artificial but it does make it feel like Christmas. We delight in the variety of gifts and goodies that we can admire and buy. Mmmm, I smell spice bread, a traditional French Christmas treat. It’s a soft sweet cake-like bread tasty with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and the licorice flavor of anise. Yes, you are absolutely right, that’s mulled wine steaming away where the sign reads “vin chaud”. By the canal, a man stirs something that crackles in a huge metal bowl with a cage-like contraption held over a flaming barrel. Oh, he’s roasting chestnuts and adding another lovely aroma to the day.
There are so many “animations” (festive events) in Perpignan at Christmas time. It’s a bit of a riot what with traditional holiday folk dances in the streets, traditional opera one night, ballet on another, Flamenco night, a giant fresco being created by children and local artists, raffles and museums with Christmas themes and of course, the Nativity in the Cathedral, sacred choral music and traditional bell ringing on Christmas eve. There is so much more than we can see in a day or even a week! What’s that you say? Yes, you are right, we’ll find somewhere to have dinner so we can see the beautiful after dark illuminations. Hey, here’s a restaurant featuring just what I want as the evening is becoming cool – thick traditional onion soup topped with gruyere cheese set under the broiler to make it all golden and crunchy on the top. Oh yes, of course, lots of French bread to dip into the soup! After dinner we wander back out into a fairyland of sparkling lights. What a great day it’s been but now it’s time to go home and put our feet up.
It has been a great day out. So, joyeuses fêtes ( happy holidays) my friend, the Stationary Traveler. I’m glad you could join us and next month, it will be time to share the “Galette des Rois” (Kings’ Cake). Bring your sweet tooth!
Now travel ahead to January and read “Let us Eat Cake in the South of France” or stop in at “A Village Christmas Market Day in the South of France”. Happy travels!