Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

Tis the season of Jingle Bells and frosty noses, hot chocolate and warm fires, and (in these parts) les Marchés de Noël. These local Christmas Markets bring out the best of each little village -- in terms of craft makers, olive purveyors, raffle ticket sellers, and (most important) the nice lady that goes into the back to microwave the vin chaud.

So it was on Saturday morning that we ventured north of Uzés to the little village of Vallabrix last weekend for the Marché de Noël, which promised a special surprise "pour les enfants" at noon. Needing that perfect shot to finish our Christmas cards, we dressed the kids up in their finest Christmas outfits, loaded them into the car (Ellie still not feeling 100% after the Thanksgiving Day Disaster) and drove North. We got there, drove around a few times, finally asked an older women which way to the Marché de Noël, to which she replied: "le Marché de Noël? C'est demain."

 
Oops.

So it was on SUNDAY morning that we dressed the kids in their finest Christmas outfits, loaded them into the car (Ellie feeling much better) and drove North. We were a bit surprised at how small and... informal the whole setup was, but we browsed the offerings and enjoyed some vin chaud and a crêpe with chestnut confiture and even found the answer to that question we've all asked ourselves so many times, when observing some horribly kitschy hand-made crafty type thing at our grandparent's homes: "where in the world does someone buy crap like this?!"  Now we know.  

When the church bells struck noon, we hurried the kids up to the road in hopes that Père Noël might pause for a snapshot. Oh, the excitement, the anticipation, visions of an old French Père Noël, jauntily swooping up the smiling urchins for the perfect image to adorn our Holiday missives...

And then... there he was! It was him...

... er, I mean her. I think. Clearly this was one of Santa's helpers. I really don't think any words of mine could do justice to this Santa. There are times when things are so beyond your expectations that you simply can't describe them. And there are also times when things are so below your expectations that they take on a new light. As comically inept as Santa was, the kids didn't seem to care one bit. I'm sure the basket full of bonbons didn't hurt but nonetheless it was nice to see them so excited at Père Noël's arrival.

As we walked back to the car, we couldn't stop shaking our heads and chuckling. Ho ho ho, and to all a good night.

"Um,  Dad, this "Santa" lady is kinda creeping us out."