When I was about 7 years old, I was staying at my grandmother's and she received a postcard from a niece who was travelling to Finland. I remember how impressed I was by the photo of the trees completely covered by snow, under a whimsical pink sky. It was the 1980s and Instagram filters didn't exist, and I was absolutely astounded by the beauty of the image. It looked so otherworldly!
For decades, Finland became a fantasy, and then at the end of 2016, shortly before Christmas, I booked a family trip to Lapland. I told my 6 years old son we were going to meet Santa Claus in his house, and that's exactly what happened.
Before that encounter, we were lucky enough to have fun in the snow, see reindeers with their Sami herders and also sled dogs. Here are the drawings I made in my sketchbook, I used watercolour to paint them:
That Christmas my son could give his letter to Santa in person. How cool is that? I still have a very fond memory of the little house hidden in the middle of the forest. Little elves dressed in green showed us the way!
Having fantasized about Finnish Lapland for so long before finally going there made me fear that the reality wouldn't live up to my expectations. To my great pleasure, it was actually even better. There were magnificent forests covered by snow as far as the eye can see, and the sky was as pink and beautiful as the one in this old postcard imprinted in my childhood memory. The sun was there for just a few hours each day, but the light was absolutely gorgeous.
