Monday, December 06, 2004
Christmas is coming
The Christmas decorations in Dinan, Lanvalley and Tressaint went up this weekend and I noticed tonight that the lights have been switched on. It's all starting to look very Christmassy. It's a little surprising in a strange way because The State and Religion are kept very very separate. Remember the furore about religious symbols in French schools. However The State (L'État) has a huge hand in funding each of the communes that display religious symbolism.
Driving around I've seen masses of mistletoe (Le Gui) growing in poplar, oak and apple trees. I always thought it just grew in apple trees, but obviously that's another old wives tale brought into disrepute. From my experience it seems the French don't have the custom of kissing under the mistletoe and it's just left to grow in the trees, but it says otherwise here. In the UK it would be quite a gold mine as a small sprig sells for several pounds at this time of year. Maybe I should bag it up and take a trip back to England.
| 7:20:20 PM
Christmas is coming
