Today, we we had lunch at the Vauban in Antibes. The streets were surprisingly crowded as adults and children alike took their dogs and Christmas presents for a walk. In 2002, we celebrated Christmas in London, and on December 26 (Boxing Day), everything was closed; the stores did not open until December 27. In France, shopping resumes the day after Christmas, provided that day doesn’t fall on a Sunday. After all, why miss an opportunity to extract more money from parents on the flimsy excuse that yesterday was Christmas? And so, on the Place Nationale, some rides for small children had been set up, and many parents relented and dutifully took out their purses. After all, “Peace on Earth” is not supposed to stop the day after Christmas...