Toys and Chocolate....

They are putting the Christmas lights up in the village already, although I don't think they will turn them on until the first of December. But already I'm feeling a little in the holiday mood. Maybe it's the fact that the little ladies have already given me their Christmas orders, or maybe it's because we've just booked our ferry back to the UK. There was certainly an air of Christmas in Paris, with most of the big department stores already displaying their magical holiday window displays.

I've started going through the toy catalogues that all of the stores around here send, like Joué Club, Eveil et Jeux, Auchan and King Jouet. It always makes me laugh to look through the French catalogues and see all of the names of toys I remember having as a child, although with completely different French names.

See if you can guess what these games are: Bataille Navale, Puissance 4, Docteur Maboul, Hippos Gloutons, La Roue de la Fortune. Not too difficult, I know, but weird to think my kids will grow up calling these games different names.

One thing I have learned this year about preparing for the holiday season- No matter how 'on offer' the chocolate boxes are at the supermarket, and no matter how organized you think you are being by stocking up on them to give out during the Christmas season, don't do it! You'll just end up making your way through them, one by one, sometimes half a box at a time in front of the tele....