Edwards Adventure in Paris: Christmas

Like Thanksgiving, I came into Christmas a little worried about homesickness and regret from not being able to share the holidays with our parents, brothers, their families, my extended family, and our friends.

The weeks leading up to Christmas felt very similar to back home. We got a tree in early December and while six or seven feet shorter than normal and missing all of our usual decorations, we put on a few lights, a handful of ornaments, and a home-made angel for the top and it looked pretty good.

All month we had the same holiday music as always playing in the background. And we added some new decorations to our collection -- some German "smokers" and nutcrackers, a Santa, the Christmas pyramid, and a few other things.

On Christmas Eve, the four of us sat down to a wonderful meal that Erin prepared, including our traditional Green Jello Salad (don't laugh until you try it!) and a beef recipe that she learned at one of the cooking classes she attended. Afterwards we made our way to the American Church in Paris for a carol-filled candlelight service.

Later, after opening a couple of gifts, getting the kids off to bed, and doing some last-minute wrapping, we settled into bed a bit after midnight.

Like an explosion, our door was opened by excited kids at about 6:30 on Christmas morning. In a state of semi-consciousness I told them to go open their stockings -- something they are always allowed to do before we all get up and open packages -- and they replied that they already had. They were ready to move on to the main event!

Erin and I slowly -- painfully to the little ones -- got moving and made our way out to the living room. There, over the course of the next hour or so, we opened gifts and felt very much at home.

The rest of the day was really a delight. The four of us hung out together, with nothing to do and nowhere to go, and we enjoyed a very quiet, relaxed day. In the afternoon we used Facetime to exchange Christmas wishes with our family back in the States. We played games, built Legos, and checked out our gifts.

In the evening I went down to the very center of Paris -- the Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis -- and walked around a bit. The city was the quietest I had ever seen it. A few people were out, a few were in restaurants, but that was it. I walked to the Hôtel de Ville and watched a group of people playing a very fast game of tag on ice skates on the rink there. That was the most action I saw in the normally buzzing city. I then made my way home through quiet streets, kissed the kids good-night, and went to bed.

In the end, while I missed spending the day with family in the States, we had a really nice day together that didn't require jumping in a car or rushing off somewhere. (Before we had kids, there were many Christmas Days where we would spend four hours or more in the car, driving over 200 miles to two or three events. It was always a lot of fun and I always loved it, but it did make for a long, tiring day.)

I've come to realize that there are two elements to the pleasure of this experience. There is first the pleasure of being here, of experiencing different things in different ways. But there will also be the pleasure in returning. In getting back to the things that we've missed and gaining a new appreciation for them after a year away. I have a long list of those things and Christmas is definitely on it. This Christmas wasn't filled with regret, as I had feared it might be. It was really nice. But I also know that we will really enjoy getting back to our usual Christmas routines when we return.