Christmas in Paris

No, I"m not actually going to Paris for Christmas.  That would be a dream come true, but this year is definitely not the one.  I do suspect, though, that at some point in the future I will be wishing people a merry one en Francaise.

Instead of crossing the Atlantic this year, my lovely friends Mark and Laura held a Paris-themed Christmas party at their house last weekend.  It's not the first dinner/cocktail party of theirs that I've attended, but it was perhaps the most beautiful. 

Laura is what you might call a collector. Not in a creepy, house-full-of-porcelain-cats kind of way, though.  Her tabletops are covered with old books about art and equally dated camera equipment.  Her cabinets are filled with adorable tea sets and glasses for every kind of drink one could imagine.  She's decorated their house with an eclectic mix of classy trinkets and dark wood furnishings that she'll proudly tell you have come most entirely from thrift stores, but her taste is so exquisite that you might never guess the pieces came to her via the Goodwill.  She has a serious eye for bargains, that one, and her cookbook collection is TO DIE FOR. Every time I visit them, I feel as if I've walked into a museum.  So much to see and explore.  I love their home.

It was not difficult for the decor to be converted to a Parisian theme.  Interspersed with the lamps and the candlesticks and the paintings are numerous likenesses of le Tour Eiffel.  The light-strewn statue pictured above is just one of the figurines, paintings and pictures of the structure to be seen on a normal day at Mark and Laura's.  It was also one of the many many sources of light that evening.  Candelabras shed a golden glow across the rooms, along with twinkling white lights bordering the windows and winding their way through the boughs of the Christmas tree.  I know they worked hard for a festive ambiance.  I feel lucky to have  been invited to enjoy it.

Now I invite you to enjoy this glimpse of the evening that I caught on film.  

We began the evening with Laura's beautiful French cheese platter and Chelsea Sidecars courtesy of Mark's mixed drink bible.

Salade Nicoise was the star of the dinner table, while white lights set a festive mood.

What French dinner party is complete without chocolate mousse and baguette?

So far this holiday season does not disappoint. Thank you, Mark and Laura, for once again hosting such a killer soiree! Happy Holidays!