16
Christmas in France

Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Christmas in France

Page 2: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

In some parts of France, Christmas

comes early when Father

Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings

small gifts and sweets for children

on December 6th, the feast day of

Saint-Nicolas (celebrated in the

North and Northeast).

Page 3: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

In other parts of the country, children place

their shoes by the fire and wake up on

Christmas Day to find them filled with

presents from Le Père Noël and fruit, nuts and

small toys hanging on the tree.

Page 4: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

Some families start

celebrating on 6th December,

with presents from Saint

Nicolas, others wait for Père

Noël until Christmas Day .

Page 5: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

Saint-Nicolas has a partner, Le Père

Fouettard, Father Spanker, whose job it

is to decide whether children have been

good or bad and 'reward' bad children

with a spanking!

Page 6: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

While children open their presents on this day,

not all parents do - some are patient and wait

until New Year's Eve, la Saint-Sylvestre,

which is more of an adult celebration.

Page 7: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

After Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve

people gather at home or in a

restaurant for a feast called le

réveillon. The menu varies in each

region.

Page 8: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

This usually consists of oysters les huîtres,

snails les escargots, seafood les fruits de

mer, smoked salmon saumon fumé or le

caviar as a starter, followed by goose, l'oie,

or some other roasted bird for the main

course, all washed down with wine, le vin or

le champagne.

Page 9: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

The typical French

dessert on this

occasion is a rather

rich and creamy

yulelog called La

Bûche de Noël

Page 10: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

La Bûche de Noël: a cake

made of chocolate and

chestnuts, is the main desert in

France and in some houses a

real log is left burning from

Christmas Eve until the Twelfth

Night.

Page 11: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

The ‘sapin de noël'

(Christmas tree) is said to

have come to France through

the Alsace region (then

belonging to Germany) in the

14th Century.

Page 12: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

The tree was brought by German

princess, Hélène de Mecklembourg

after her marriage to the French

Duke of Orléans, heir to the French

throne.

Page 13: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

The main focus in French homes at Christmastime is

the Nativity Scene, or ‘crèche'. Besides the main

characters of the Holy Family, the Shepherds and the

Three Kings, the crèche is also filled with figures called

‘santons' (little saints), generally made from clay by

craftsmen in the south of France.

Page 14: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

New Year is also very important for

the French and this is when greeting

cards and more gifts are exchanged

between friends and family.

Page 15: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!

The final celebration of the Christmas season is ‘la

Fête des Rois', Feast of the Kings on the last of the

twelve days of Christmas. On this day a special cake is

baked called La Gallete des Rois, which contains a

small ‘fève' (charm) inside it. The person who finds

the charm is crowned King or Queen for the day.

Page 16: Christmas in France Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année! In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when Father Christmas, Le Père Noël, brings small gifts

Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!Vive le vent, vive le vent, vive le vent

d'hiver

Qui s'en va, sifflant, soufflant

Dans les grands sapins verts, Oh !

Vive le temps, vive le temps, vive le

temps d'hiver

Qui rappelle aux vieux enfants

Leurs souvenirs d'hier !