Monaco - La Marche de Noel

From the desk of Jase:

Inspiration for writing projects can come from many sources. It's been said that an unexpected dismal & gloomy summer spent at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland in 1816 served as the basis for the classical horror stories Frankenstein and The Vampyre (not Bram Stoker's version). In my case, I have some Italian neighbors next door who have decided to throw a Spring party for their friends ce soir. This party also serves to educate all neighbors within a 400-meter radius of the important musical differences between Europop, Eurotrance, Euro-House, and Progressive House. Common elements appear to include an incessant, thumping bass as the backbeat, spiced up only with alternating high-hats, keyboard sequencers, and the all-important "hook girl."

This gives me the perfect reason to catch up on some blog posts. Before we moved to France, I could not have told you much about Monaco. I probably would have been lucky to point it out on a map. Yet this tiny, charming principality (completely within the borders of France, yet sovereign) has grown on us with each visit. We first visited it in November as we were "surveying" the area for incoming guests and noted the tunnels, windy roads, exotic sportscars (some easily worth more than our house), the port for "super" yachts, the Royal Palace, the Monte Carlo Casino, and the Oceanographic Museum founded by THE Jacques Cousteau. But besides riding the little tourist train around the city, it seemed like there wasn't much else for younger kids to see or do.

Then, returning in December for another afternoon drive, we unexpectedly arrived at the Christmas Market at the main port (Port Hercule). From the backseat: "Dad--what is THAT?", "We wanna get out!", "Rides!", etc. The enormous ferris wheel was the most visible draw.

Dear Parents: It doesn't really matter what we charge for this ride. You WILL pay it. Sincerely, The Grand Wheel

We immediately parked and went to go check it out. The entire Port Hercule had been converted into a Christmas Market, flanked by animatronic Nutcrackers, filled with Swiss chalet-type food and gift shacks, and offering ice skating, tobogganing, and other carnival rides. The girls had never put on their coats, mittens, scarves and hats faster in their lives than when they saw the 115-year-old traditional carousel with a full working calliope band using wooden sheet music.

"Fairies of the non-Sugarplum variety will NOT be tolerated!"

Even though it was cold, we checked out the giant Ferris Wheel with an incredible view of the harbor at the top. I had to take these pictures because of the unique background.

The kids were fascinated by the huge, animatronic snowglobes, complete with nature scenes and blowing "snow."

--"Can we go inside and pet the Christmas animals?"
--"No, there is a polar bear hidden under that drift."

We also loved seeing the scaled-down candy houses for the kids to visit. They were hesitant at first until I informed them that the resident witch was on a break to get some foie gras and spiced, hot wine. And that it would be at least 15 minutes before she came back to toss any naughty kids into her oven.

On the food shack side, they had your traditional cotton candy (called strangely "Barbapapa", which translates as Dad's beard--how does associating THAT term with candy not lead into some psychoanalysis discussion?), local fare like goose liver spread sandwiches, sausages, crepes, Belgian-style waffles, pasta, baguette sandwiches, and roasted chestnuts. We couldn't find caramel apples, but only candied apples called "Pomme d'Amour", or Apples of Love because they were brightly colored in the shade of...er....candy apple red. But if all that stuff wasn't cool enough, they also made fresh churros with Nutella dipping sauces, which was the hottest booth on the pier for kids and adults like.

But then, we found the booth that cemented the Monaco Christmas market forever as the Best Thing We Did In December 2010. The "Catch the Ducks" game. The premise of this carnival game is simple: Everyone pays the same price. You pick out 10 plastic ducks or 10 plastic swans with a hook from a moving series of neon waterfowl. Once you're done with all 10 (no time limit), you pick your prize. Easy as that. It takes about 3 minutes for the kids to play the game and then about 15 minutes for them to pick their prize (mostly dollar-store items, but they WON it, so it means more and therefore requires considerable deliberation).

In these pictures, Jenica and Jocelyn have already played and picked their prizes (in hand). But Maisy is just now getting a chance. I love her face in the second shot.

Clearly, this game was created for the under-7 crowd. At this point, any town festival or fair featuring a Catch the Ducks game is automatically considered worth checking out. Here is Maisy trying to decide on her prize--still pretty thrilled that she found a game she excels at as much as her older sisters.

Besides these attractions, there was a Bubble Machine float with an old-timey vehicle that looked like something straight out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, an all-Santa marching band, and plenty of people-watching. One of my personal faves there is that I was mistaken as Italian at least twice--the vendors started speaking to me in French; then, when they saw I didn't understand, they assumed I was Italian. It didn't hurt that I was wearing my most European-looking scarf. But for the record, I was not carrying a satchel (aka a "Man Purse"), so it's not like I had assimilated that much.

These days, all we have to do is mention the term "Monaco" and the kids jump into the car and buckle themselves. We will continue to explore and check out the Oceanographic Aquarium there or maybe other kid-friendly venues. But the Christmas Market of Monaco was one of our very favorite things in December 2010. It not only helped us feel a tad of the commercial holiday buzz, but also it was such a fun family activity that it was one of those first "we can probably make it living here" moments of pause. We plan on going again this December and every year that we can while enjoying this region. But don't expect us to order the goose liver quesadillas at the food shacks. There is still a line over which we cannot cross, no matter how much the Bubble Float jazzes us up.