Planning for Christmas in Causses Et Veyran
- NETTE
- Dec 5, 2025
- 2 min read
I’m planning for Christmas in Causses Et Veyran. In the past, when the children were small, I threw myself headfirst into December as if the holiday carried some secret magic that I could uncover if I just tried hard enough. But the older the children grew, the more the Grinch in me emerged. That laconic voice that sighs at unnecessary efforts and questions all the glitter. I’ve simply struggled with holidays. One year, my entire Christmas decoration consisted of a chime, a portrait of Coco Chanel as a Christmas bauble, and a single green twig. Minimalistic, but beautiful in its own way. This year, I’m trying something new. The children are on their way home, and friends as well, and suddenly it feels as if a new tradition wants to take shape. I’m planning for the return of the Christmas tree.
Christmas decorations in France follow entirely different rules than the Swedish ones. What it looks like inside the home remains a secret in the small French villages. No stars shine in the windows as welcoming signals, because here the shutters stay closed to keep out the cold. Perhaps that’s why they put even more effort into the outside. Here, Santas and Christmas trees appear in the most unexpected places, and strings of lights in every imaginable color blink endlessly. In Béziers, the Christmas spirit rules every street, and everywhere the lights pulse. Imagine Swedish Christmas decorations multiplied by ten, and you’ll have it.
For many years, my Christmas gifts to the family consisted of artworks by different photographers. Not exactly what a teenager wishes for, but I know that today everyone is grateful for them. Did you know there are scientific studies proving the healing power of art? They’ve concluded that by viewing art or creating something ourselves we physically feel better and get our brain spinning more effectively. I wonder how I would have behaved without art in my life, but I am absolutely certain it makes me think and feel differently.
In my family, it’s a tradition to open Christmas presents the day before Christmas Eve. It’s so obvious now that I’ve almost forgotten it once started as a little emergency solution, an improvisation. The bodyguard who was always traveling all the other days, and who never really mastered planning ahead. For him, the day before Christmas Eve was the first day off and therefore also the day when everything had to be bought. The day began with a round in town, usually accompanied by a couple of bar stops together with his brother. And when he finally came home, he was always so pleased with his finds that he couldn’t help himself and said, “Open it now!”
From All of Us to All of You
a very Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New ART Year.
arts by Patricio Reig, Gerhard Richter and Nette
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