celebrating the season with chocolate
holiday tree of chocolate
(sapin de Noël au chocolat)
I could not believe my eyes when I saw holiday decor in the Los Angeles stores before Halloween. While I understand the excitement, that two month vendor jump on the holidays does not exist in Paris. In Paris, the holiday decor does not go up until the first week in December (with the exception of certain tourist streets such as the Champs Élysées) and it stays up until the Epiphany (January 6). This week the pine trees have arrived. There are no Christmas tree “lots.” Instead, the corner florists and grocery stores sell them and the decorated trees are beginning to embellish store fronts, hotels, and apartment buliding lobbies. The gardienne for our apartment building put our lobby pine tree up yesterday. Covered in white flocking with white ornaments, it is a welcome sight and smell coming in from the 40 degree (Fahrenheit) chill and it was the inspiration for this (very) simple pleasure: holiday tree of chocolate (sapin de Noël au chocolat).
