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Christmas in France
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).
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.
Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!
Some families start
celebrating on 6th December,
with presents from Saint
Nicolas, others wait for Père
Noël until Christmas Day .
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!
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.
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.
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.
Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!
The typical French
dessert on this
occasion is a rather
rich and creamy
yulelog called La
Bûche de Noël
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 !