It's cheating, but Hazard

Chapter 182 180 Shire's Christmas Vacation (Update 1.53)

The centenary celebrations of the two clubs came to a perfect end.

After thanking the audience, Charles returned home.

Today is Christmas Eve. Various Christmas decorations can be seen everywhere along the way, and the whole city is filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Although the holiday is short, Christmas is the most important holiday in France.

From mid-October to January, cities and towns across France are filled with a joyful Christmas atmosphere.

"Charlie, come and help."

Ange and Jacques both changed into reindeer sweaters for Christmas.

Jacques was setting up the Christmas tree while Ange was busy with other things.

Generally speaking, the Christmas trees decorated for Christmas are real trees. At this time, the home flower shop will once again usher in the peak season.

Many French people would buy fir trees in flower shops, markets or supermarkets. In Charles's impression, at this time of year, the flower shops would be filled with fir trees of different sizes.

"Here I am," Charles put on a red and green Christmas sweater and walked over, "What do you want to do?"

Ange turned around and pointed at the Christmas advent calendar on the sideboard. "Throw away the advent calendar on the table and put the little porcelain dolls in place."

A Christmas advent calendar is a type of calendar that is sold specially in mid-October.

There are usually 24 or 25 small doors on the calendar. When you open one every day, you will see a small gift.

Each year's Christmas advent calendar has a different theme, including chocolate, candy, cosmetics, tea, wine, beer, cheese, and even French delicacies such as foie gras.

This tradition is said to have originated in Germany, but is now practiced throughout the countries that celebrate Christmas.

Ciel threw away the empty Christmas advent calendar, found the set of porcelain dolls on the dining table, removed the wrapping paper, and carefully arranged them.

The small porcelain dolls in my home have gradually accumulated and now there are more than a hundred of them.

Adding the new purchases, the arrangement becomes more and more complicated every year.

These small porcelain figurines are traditional painted figurines from the Provence region of France, which originated in the late eighteenth century.

Since a long time ago, at Christmas time, many churches would use large sculptures to depict the scene of the birth of Jesus.

But during the French Revolution, many churches were forced to close, so people began to make small porcelain dolls and place them in their homes to replace the nativity scenes displayed in churches.

Charles patiently and slowly placed all the more than one hundred small porcelain dolls, while leaving the four most important ones unadded to the scene.

One is a small porcelain doll representing the baby Jesus, which has to be added after midnight;
There are also three small porcelain figurines, which are statues of wise men that will be added on January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany.

On this side, Jacques also set up the Christmas tree, and Kurtis also brought five pairs of shoes and placed them under the Christmas tree.

"Come on, come on, let's decorate our Christmas tree together——"

Mirabelle smiled as she pushed open the door and walked in, carrying a large bag in her hands. "These are the decorations I just picked out at the Christmas market. They are all handmade."

Charles took the bag from Mirabelle and brought it to the Christmas tree.

At this time, the whole family gathered together, took Christmas decorations from their pockets and hung them on the Christmas tree.

Nowadays, there are more and more types of decorations on Christmas trees, but the most popular ones are still the traditional angels, bells, stars, canes and socks.

Flowers of all kinds are beautiful, but at Christmas, they are not as popular, especially wreaths.

Time slowly came to 8 o'clock in the evening.

Generally speaking, dinner in France is very late, and it is not until eight o'clock that it is time to eat.

It is impossible for French Christmas customs to remain unchanged from ancient times to the present. As time goes by, the details will change more or less.

Each new one has its own rules, but traditionally there are two Christmas dinners.

The first dinner is called Christmas Eve dinner and will be relatively simple.

For example, foie gras, a famous French dish, will not appear in Christmas Eve dinner.

"Xia Li, come and serve the dishes—"

"Here I am," Charles put down the little porcelain doll in his hand and went to the kitchen to bring out the Christmas Eve dishes.

Christmas Eve dishes include both hot and cold dishes.

The appetizer is seafood. For example, tonight, Charles' family prepared oysters, prawns and smoked salmon.

Ajaccio is close to the sea, and seafood like this is very cheap and fresh.

When Charles went to Caen for a match before, he had eaten a very delicious seafood - Saint-Jacques scallops.

Especially after being fried in butter and then drizzled with the specially prepared lemon garlic sauce, the kids next door were crying with greed.

However, its origin is in northern France, which is too far away. In addition, Charles did not want to "eat Jacques in front of Jacques", so this dish did not appear on the table.

After the appetizers, it was time for the main course, which was all vegetarian.

Yes, on Christmas Eve dinner, everything is vegetarian except seafood.

This year's Christmas Eve, the dishes in Charles's house include Italian ravioli, clam pasta, etc.

In other parts of France, such as Provence, there is a 13-course dessert ceremony, symbolizing Jesus and his 12 disciples.

Famous pastries include olive oil bread with citrus peel, called "oil pump", as well as local sweets such as nougat, candied fruits, etc.

The customs in Charles's family were closer to those in Italy.

After the main meal, various candies, such as turron, were served on the table.

It’s called candy, but it’s more like almond pastry that’s been gathered together, and no candy is added during the production process, only Mediterranean honey.

After Christmas Eve dinner, there will be a variety of activities.

But Charles felt that if he went out, he would not be seeing the sights, but would become a sightseeing attraction for people to visit.

In order to avoid this from happening, he chose to stay at home and watch TV.

Glancing at the somewhat empty table, Charles suddenly remembered that something seemed to be missing.

"Dad, have we bought this year's calendar?"

Jacques sat on the sofa and stared at the TV without looking up. "What calendar?"

"Firefighters Calendar."

Charles thought for a moment and said.

Hearing this, Jacques finally turned to look at Charles and rolled his eyes at him. "I've already bought it, a whole box. Why are you asking this?"

"Ah? A box?" Charles almost dropped his jaw.

Ange stuffed the entire apple into Jacques' mouth, "I already put it away, so what's wrong with buying a box?"

Jacques helplessly picked up the apple and slowly began to eat it, and Charles wisely closed his mouth.

The French firefighters' calendar is no ordinary calendar.

It was very sexy and hot, and the focus of the calendar was not on the display of the months, but on the photos of the firefighters.

At the end of the year, the fire department will select the most handsome and best-built young firefighters from the fire service to take photos.

As for the photographer, he naturally cannot be an ordinary person, but a professional photographer who specializes in photographing male models and muscular men.

After the calendars are made, some will be sold at newsstands and chain bookstores, and firefighters will also go door-to-door to sell the calendars.

Calendars sold in newsstands and bookstores have a uniform price, usually around 20 Euros.

As for the door-to-door calendars, buyers can pay whatever they want.

In the whole of Europe, there is no other country except France that uses firefighters to shoot such a sexy calendar.

Meanwhile, the French firefighters calendar is also a big seller and can be seen in other countries as well.

Like before, whenever Charles met a firefighter who came to sell his books door-to-door, he would buy one.

This is certainly not for viewing, but to support public welfare.

Proceeds from the sales of the calendars will go to Firefighters International (PEI) and Challenge Ludovic Martin.

PEI is a non-profit organization that teaches fire safety knowledge for free, including first aid, fire escape, etc.

Challenge Ludovic Martin is an event.

Ludovic Martin was a firefighter who died in a fire at the age of 21. In order to commemorate him, a long-distance swimming + long-distance running sports event is organized every November.

In addition to these two activities, there is also subsidies provided to the families of firefighters who died in the line of duty.

Moreover, in France, firefighters are more than just firefighters. Ange peeled another apple, "I've also ordered some second edition calendars, Charles, you can give them to your teammates at the end of the holiday."

There are several versions of the French firefighter calendar, and the best-selling and sexiest firefighter calendar is the first edition.

As for the second edition, it is the "daily edition" and the "sand sculpture edition".

"Okay, I'll bring some over then."

After watching TV for a while, Charles went to bed.

The night was dreamless and soon it was the next morning, the day when everyone was looking forward to opening presents on Christmas morning.

Sure enough, after Charles went downstairs, he saw Christmas presents piled up like a mountain in front of the Christmas tree.

Charles remembered clearly that when he got up last night to put away the presents, there were not so many.

In France, people give gifts to all family members, from children to grandparents.

Everyone stood next to their shoes in front of the Christmas tree and began to open their presents.

Time passed quickly in the joy of opening gifts, and soon it was time for the highlight of Christmas, the Christmas dinner.

Compared to the simplicity of Christmas Eve dinner yesterday, the Christmas dinner was very grand.

The whole meal lasts a very long time and it is impossible to finish it in less than three or four hours.

Kurtis took out a bottle of champagne from the wine cabinet, and Mirabell took out a bottle of sparkling water.

"Just four glasses of champagne, Charlie, drink sparkling water."

Kurtis slowly opened the champagne with a corkscrew, "I know."

After pouring the aperitif, Charles brought out the foie gras appetizer from the kitchen.

On the other side, Jacques also took out the toast from the oven.

Foie gras is usually eaten with toast and champagne, which is also a very classic combination.

In addition to this option, you can also make it seared foie gras and serve it with fig, raisin or onion chutney.

After the appetizers, it’s time for the main course.

The main dish is usually turkey, but the taste of turkey is really average, so this year we changed it to Tuscan roasted guinea fowl.

Sure enough, Italian-style food is more delicious.

After the main course, there is a cheese platter. There are more than 300 different types of cheese in France, and each has a different taste.

At the same time, this cheese platter should also be paired with wine.

Well, Charles continued to drink sparkling water.

After finishing the cheese platter, it’s time for the most important part of the Christmas dinner: the finale dinner – the Christmas tree log cake.

That’s right, the French Christmas cake is called “Christmas log cake”.

As the name suggests, the cake represents the tree trunk.

A Yule log cake is basically a roll cake covered in buttercream, but the design and toppings vary from one pastry to another.

This cake has a history older than Christmas trees and the Nativity, dating back to the Middle Ages.

Rumor has it that the Yule Log Cake may have originally been a real piece of wood.

In France and French-speaking countries, there are many traditions that feature wood.

Among the many explanations, one is that people would usually choose a large log to burn in the fireplace, which would ideally last for 21 days.

At the same time, this piece of wood will basically be made of fruit wood to ensure a good harvest next year.

When the wood is lit, it is blessed with boxwood or laurel branches prepared on Palm Sunday.

Another theory is that this represents a salute to the sun during the dark winter.

With the family reunited, Charles had a perfect Christmas holiday.

Although it is still the holiday season, Charles and Jacques once again headed to Spain to prepare for the competition.

After successfully passing the medical examination, Charles once again stepped into the Barcelona locker room with his gifts.

"Merry Christmas," Charles opened the box and took out the prepared Christmas gifts.

Ibrahimovic looked at Ciel in surprise, "What is this?"

"I prepared these Christmas gifts. I wonder if you like them."

Charles smiled and gave a calendar to everyone in the locker room. If the player was not there, Charles put the gift on his chair.

Now in the locker room, besides Charles, there are only Messi and Ibrahimovic.

The other players are still being examined in the medical examination room.

In addition to the unified calendar, there are also some local French specialties - GIEN mini tableware.

Gien is a traditional French luxury tableware brand and has been the largest pottery manufacturer in Europe since 1821.

The price of one of his tableware is about 3661 euros, which is equivalent to more than 3 yuan.

Although this time the gift was tableware, it would be more appropriate to put it on the wall as a work of art rather than using it for eating.

Messi carefully took the cutlery. "Are these French tourist attractions printed on them?"

Charles nodded. He had spent a long time choosing this set of tableware. "Yes, it's from the special historic collection."

After Charles gave the gifts, Messi and Ibrahimovic also took out the Christmas gifts they had prepared.

Although Barcelona's players are all wealthy, the gifts each person gives are within their means, and the sentiment behind them may be profound.

After a while, Charles received all kinds of gifts.

Ibrahimovic gave a beret, and Messi gave a small sculpture of an Argentine building...

Just as the three of them were sitting in the locker room chatting, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Guardiola pushed the door open and walked in with the medical report in his hand.

"How was your Christmas? Where did you go?"

Charles glanced at Messi, then took out a gift for Guardiola from the cabinet.

"I stayed at home during the holidays. There were too many people outside. It was more comfortable at home."

Guardiola nodded. "Very good. Staying at home with my family is also very important."

Messi then talked about his Christmas holiday.

“I made a barbecue at home and it was delicious.”

"That's great. I can really enjoy the food of my hometown during the holidays."

Guardiola continued to nod.

Ibrahimovic breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

"I went for a spin in my Ferrari."

As soon as Ibrahimovic finished speaking, Guardiola frowned instantly.

"Zlatan, how can you drive a Ferrari?"

Ibrahimovic looked at Guardiola in confusion, "Zlatan just went for a drive, he didn't eat or drink a lot, nor did he stay up late to travel..."

"Driving a Ferrari on Christmas, aren't you worried about catching a cold? And didn't I tell you not to drive a Ferrari, because its pedals are bad for the players' ankles? Do you know how important physical health is to players?"

Guardiola took the opportunity to open the medical report in his hand, "The team doctor just told me that our players have gained several pounds since returning from Christmas."

"Now, go to the training ground immediately. The physical trainer is waiting for you."

Ibrahimovic's eyes widened.

Which one will make you gain weight more easily: staying at home and doing nothing but sleeping, eating barbecue at home, or going for a drive?
But there is no way, this time Guardiola makes sense.

Ibrahimovic had no choice but to stand up and walk towards the training ground.

Charles and Messi looked at each other and stood up from their seats.

"Wait a minute, Ciel, Leo, you two don't have to go to the training ground. There's a trainer waiting for you in the gym."

(End of this chapter)