Just as in North America, the Christmas season gets underway in earnest right after Armistice Day. This past weekend was the Marché de Noël Artisanal, featuring food and Christmas crafts. Unlike the Christmas Bazaars that we're familiar with - such as those hosted as fundraisers for churches - the vendors were mostly professionals. On our visit to Rians (below), the tourist bureau had a neat display of Advent calendars, e.g. made of wood with little drawers to pull out (candy not included)).
The village has also put up and turned on its Christmas lights (note to the Downtown Halifax Business Commission - they waited until after Nov. 11!). Of course, the weather isn't very Christmassy compared to home: the daytime highs still hover around the +15C mark. The days are short, though - sunset is officially just after 5pm, but the sun goes behind the mountains sooner than that. So the cheery white lights are welcome, even if there isn't snow on the ground. All things considered, we're happy enough for it to be +15C.
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| the 12th-century tower is on the left |
Our weekend trip did not take us far, just to the village of Rians, around the corner of Mont Ste-Victoire (in Var). Its church has two steeples (perhaps more accurately: bell towers), neither of which is directly attached to the church. I gather it was not uncommon to have the bell tower separated from the sanctuary, but this is the first in-use church we've seen with this configuration. As for Rians specifically one tower is actually used as the church bell, the other is the restored 12th-century town's tower.
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