I am sure if we had embarked on this adventure several years ago questions that would have been asked would have been, “How will Santa find us? Will we see him on a couch, in DC, at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, on a train, in Colonial Williamsburg, in France? Will there be snow?”
While we do not have to contend with Santa’s navigation we do have to help our kids see Christmas in a different light. The weather is not constantly cold, barren stick deciduous trees of winter common to our eyes hide amongst the multitude of evergreen species painting this landscape. Christmas apparel, music, and decorations can be experienced shopping however the kids don’t typically go shopping here with us. The shifting experience of “Christmas” through the eyes of a young child would be shifting anyway as teenagers have emerged in our family. We continue with some Christmas traditions, we make new ones, and we focus more on Jesus’ birth and the landscape back then, pointing out what we see and finding experiences to observe.
So let’s back up to Barcelona, visiting Sagrada Familia was an unexpected amazing way to start off the Christmas season for us. The outside of this ongoing construction of a church strategically depicts biblical truth. Above the front doors display Christ’s birth with the 3 wisemen, angels, shepherds, cow, donkey, and common people looking at Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. As I write this I continue to study each photo trying to take it ALL in. I see something new with every look.
Lees in France 