Nostalgia in 8 film photos

On December 6th, every year, I find myself wishing I was back home, in France. I grew up in Northeastern France and on December 6th, that part of the country celebrates St Nicolas in a big way. There is a huge night time parade in my hometown of Nancy and as children, my brother and I would receive gifts of iced gingerbread and chocolate in the image of St Nicolas.
In the 40 years since I left France, I have only been back a handful of times at the beginning of December. I wanted my children to experience the magic of it when they were very young, but since then have only been there once at that time of year. That time was in 2015, less than a month after the terrorist attacks in Paris and the parade was canceled, even though a lot of the street entertainment and the St Nicolas Market were maintained. I have very warm memories of that visit and of walking around the city where the atmosphere was a mix of sadness and resilience. I had only taken a film camera with me on that trip and had shot most of my film in Brittany, the first stop on our trip. I only have 8 photos of the week we spent in my hometown but they are a perfect little concentrate of memories. I look at them every year, on December 6th.

After 3 years, this post is my last one on Viewfinders. I want to thank this group of amazingly talented women for inviting me to join them and wish them and everyone who follows Viewfinders a lovely and love filled end of 2025!

Valérie