Day 541 (Friday)

I was chuffed to see three new orange flowers on our terrace, I’ve some more soil to cover the crocus bulbs that are coming through already and saw today that another bulb is sprouting – they are not supposed to come up until the spring.

 

Sadly it was rather cloudy this morning but it wasn’t cold enough to stop Huw volunteering to take me to Cap d’Ail again. It was pretty cold on the scooter but not too uncomfortable. I had a pleasant two hours with Thomas in the restaurant again

I was supposed to spend two hours with Pauline after Thomas but she had to cancel because she was so busy yet again.

I spotted this delightful little car on the way to the bus stop

and noticed this orange tree right next to the bus stop – why don’t they pick them and eat them?

 

Back in Villefranche I saw my first Nativity scene of the year in the hairdresser’s

A few weeks ago I found this article on…

…the History of Les Santons  (little saints)

The Christmas nativity tradition has its origins in the Middle Ages. A stubborn legend is that Francis of Assisi, whose mother was from Tarascon, created in 1223 the first living nativity scene in Greccio whereas these scenes were already played for several centuries by actors in the mysteries of the Nativity on the forecourt churches. This ‘living nativity scene’ gave birth to a tradition that has been perpetuated, but the ‘actors’ have been largely replaced by characters in wood, wax, pasteboard, faience and even glass. 

The first known crib was the one created in Marseille in 1775 by a man named Laurent. It consisted of articulated models wearing local costumes. To add a touch of exoticism, the designer had placed giraffes, reindeer and hippopotamuses. Jean-Paul Clébert says: ‘At the time of the Concordat Laurent even showed a carriage advancing towards the stable; the pope descended from it, followed by the cardinals. Before them was kneeling the whole Holy Family and the pope gave him his blessing. 

During the adoration of the shepherds, a curtain rose, revealing the sea on which a warship was sailing. A gun salute greeted the infant Jesus, suddenly awakened, opened his eyes, shuddered and waved his arms‘.

After the French Revolution, which led to the closing of the churches and the suppression of the midnight mass, the public performances of the nativity were discontinuous. It is then that in Provence little characters, the ‘santoun’ or ‘little saints’, were created so that a Christmas nativity scene could flourish in the intimacy of the home of each Provençal family.

In 1803, shortly after the Concordat, the first santon fair was inaugurated in Marseille. It is still there, from the end of November to the beginning of January each year, at the top of the Canebière, main street of the city centre, leading to the Old Port, or along the same artery on the Place de la Bourse. In addition to the small figurines painted, we can find at this fair ‘santons dressed’, in traditional costume, each wearing the insignia of his trade. You can also buy accessories to make the traditional decor of the nursery: stable, well, bridge, star, rock paper, paper sky, fresh foam to mimic the grass, etc.

And when I was researching the hilltop towns accessible from Nice I found this… 

Lucéram is known as the Christmas village for during the month of December it comes alive with a “Circuit des Crèches“.  Literally every tiny alley, every balcony, every doorway and every nook and cranny is decorated for Christmas with ribbons, baubles, tinsel, pinecones and santons, traditional Provencal clay figurines.  The idea is to follow the circuit of Nativity crèches (or cribs) around the village spotting the hidden ones and marvelling at the bigger scenes.  

 

We simply have to go and see this little gem.

Shock horror – it rained this afternoon and was still drizzling at 6pm so we didn’t go to Le Phare – that’s the first time we have missed a Friday since we went to Northern Cyprus and Beirut!