I enjoyed this year for many reasons. First of all, it was my first year as an engaged lady since Mr. FFID proposed on Christmas day last year in France. It was also the year I stayed in some fancy hotels, visited a few amazing European cities and ate out in some lovely restaurants.
2012 was also special because it was the birth of “French Foodie in Dublin”. It has brought me so much joy, a few features and an award for Best Expat Blog in Ireland which I’m very grateful for. Thanks a million for that.
As you might know, I spent Christmas in France with my loved ones. Christmas is a magical time of the year and even more when you get to spend it with people you miss during the rest of the year. So I thought that I‘d share my top 12 foodie moments of my Christmas in France, as we say “Au revoir” to the 12 months of 2012.
1. My first French breakfast at my parents: a pure moment of indulgence eating croissants, pains au chocolat, fresh rustic baguette and my mam’s homemade jams. Priceless!
2. Discovering the Christmas food window displays in the shops. I was drooling behind each one of them and wanted to eat/buy everything!
3. A visit to my neighbour's food shop “Clementine et Potiron”. Oh la la! Such a foodie heaven.
4. Christmas Eve Feast. The meal consisted of: homemade canapés, smoked salmon, scallops Bouchées a la reine, duck breasts, gratin dauphinois, green beans, cheese platter and a Fauchon cake. It was a quick family dinner this time, only about 4 hours.
5. My foodie Christmas presents. I didn’t only get food related presents but I wanted to show you a few of my wonderful foodie gifts
7. Eating macarons as an afternoon treat. I don’t really have a sweet tooth but these little things are one of my guilty pleasures for afternoon tea.
8. Celebrating my niece’s 12th birthday. It was just a perfect evening with the family, nibbling homemade finger food and eating the most delicious chocolate cake made by my sister in law.
9. Eating cheese. It was lovely to be able to tasty so many of them, they’re so diverse and cheap. St Nectaire fermier, Cantal, crottin de Chavignol: I had some real cheese feasts!
10. Drinking l' Apéritif. It was so nice to drink a Ricard and nibbling some saucisson before the meal while chatting with friends and family.
11. Eating fresh baguette everyday. La vie est belle when you can go to the village’s bakery, chat to the baker about the horrible rain and leave with some fresh bread that smells so good you can’t wait until you get home and start eating it on the way.
12. Visiting the local food market. The queue at the Cheesemongers stall was endless but people were patient enough to get their Christmas cheeses. I love wandering around French food markets!
So "Adieu 2012!". I’m actually starting 2013 in the hope of a career change. I’m scared and at the same time excited as I have absolutely no idea of what the future is going to hold, but life is too short for doing things you don’t enjoy. “Ah feck it sure it’s grand” is probably my favourite Irishism which I always keep in mind so as not to be scared of the unknown or the recession. So we’ll see what’s going to happen. It’s all good.
I hope you spent loads of quality time with your family and got enough TLC during your Christmas holidays to start 2013 in good form. May 2013 be “MAGNIFIQUE” for you and your loved ones!
Bonne Année 2013! Happy New Year 2013!