Here is my only attempt at Halloween decoration. Thanks to Dad & Tammy who brought this to me on their first trip. Otherwise, I'd have absolutely nothing. Am I a bad American because I haven't dressed up my kids in Gymboree costumes for the photo-op? So far Boo knows nothing about Halloween.
However, the retailers definitely know what the Americans know: Halloween portends the start of the holiday shopping season. Yesterday I was at the one mall on the Riviera which is publicly celebrating its 40th year (and it shows!). The Galeries Lafayette - the Macy's of France - was putting up the Christmas window display complete with animatron fluffy animals. I also saw a transvestite in the parking lot (6 feet tall, blond, fuzzy hot-pink shrug) barking into her phone. I received an "invitation" from the local garden and home-ware center to visit the opening on Saturday of their Christmas village.
So. I'm skipping over Halloween except for a token costume party tomorrow night (going as a beatnik if you must ask) and heading towards Thanksgiving (turkey's on order!). The big question: If you have two kids under 3, and you aren't going to be home during Christmas week, do you still have to get a tree?
We skipped Halloween completely, will most likely be nixing Thanksgiving, and this will be the third or fourth Christmas we haven't bothered with a tree, since our apartment is simply too small. I'm a grinch, I'll admit it.
On Thanksgiving, I may bake some pumpkin muffins and cranberry scones to take to work, but I'm not doing a big turkey dinner at home. It just never feels right to me to celebrate any other day than the official day, and darn it, I work on Thursdays. And, honestly, the longer I've been living in France, the less the whole over-the-top-stuffing-and-mashed-potato-extravaganza sounds appealing to me. I guess I'm just a foie gras and Champagne snob at heart.
So, no, you don't have to get a tree. Just tell yourself it's better for the environment, anyway.
Posted by: parisienne mais presque | November 03, 2009 at 02:30 PM
Totally agree that if you can avoid Hallowe'en you should! And yes, you have to have a tree or some sort of decorations for the little guys!
Posted by: Mardi @eatlivetravelwrite | October 31, 2009 at 08:40 PM