Christmas in France – Try Out These Top 3 French Christmas Traditions During the Holidays
Ahh, wouldn’t it be absolutely delightful to actually celebrate Christmas in France this year? Although there were will be thousands of visitors to this famous country, many of us will be snuggled in at home for this joyous holiday. However, there’s no reason why you can’t add a few traditional French customs to your own Christmas traditions for added fun and interest.
While various regions of France may have some of their own specialized traditions, overall there are a few that are “must-do’s” regardless of where you live in the country. So, if you want to have a touch of Christmas in France brought into your own home, here are the top three favorites that every home in France will incorporate into their seasonal celebrations.
Réveillon: A French Christmas Feast
Food is an important part of French history. And they certainly know how to do it up in style. Unlike our traditions in North America, where we eat our large turkey dinner on Christmas day, in France it is customary to have a huge Christmas Eve feast instead. This is what is called “the Reveillon.”
The meal itself consists of many, many courses and the dinner can easily last for hours! But the food that is prepared is sumptuous, and rather than it being a large meal served all at once, it is presented in small courses that are carefully regulated throughout the evening.
There are many favorite dishes overall, while others are specialties of certain regions. In essence though, most of these feasts will contain a variety of cheeses, pâtés, winter fruits, breads, canapés, fish and/or shellfish, the main meat and vegetable courses, and ending in a variety of desserts.
Serving a Bûche de Noel for Dessert
A Buche de Noel is what many of us call a Yule Log (usually chocolate in flavor). It is made with a jelly-rolled sponge cake that is filled with a butter cream frosting. Once rolled up, the outside of the cake is iced with the remaining frosting and a fork is dragged through the frosting to create a bark-like appearance. The remaining decorations will often consist of marzipan leaves and cherries to simulate holly, and a placement of meringue mushrooms. Sometimes scrapped chocolate bits are sprinkled along the log to make it look “rough,” after which the entire cake is dusted with a light powdering of icing sugar. It is the most anticipated portion of the meal by all the family and guests.
Christmas Decorations: The Crèche (Manger)
In pretty well every French home you will find a beautiful array of decorations – candles, flowers, decorated pine cones, and lots more. However, the main featured decoration will be the crèche, a nativity manger scene. The creche was fist introduced by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1224, however did not really catch on in popularity until the time of the Renaissance of the 16th Century.
You will find the crèche placed either near the fireplace hearth, on a nearby table or in a corner of the living room. It is set up at the same time as the tree, a few days before Christmas. Some French families only feature a simple nativity scene, while others go all out and have the three wise men, camels, sheep, shepherds and all manner of figures making their way to the stable.
In the southern region of Province, they have a quaint tradition of taking the children into the woods to gather moss, small stones and pine boughs, which are then used as a background for the crèche. What a lovely tradition!
Once the entire scene is set up one last thing remains… waiting for Christmas Eve when the tiny infant Jesus is placed within the manger.
So these are a few of the main traditions you could try out this year if you want to celebrate Christmas in France, without actually going to the country itself. Wishing you a “Joyeux Noel!”
2008 (c) R. Smith loves reading about various cultures and their traditions, as well as trying out new holiday ideas and recipes on her family. After all, variety is the spice of life! Although she was only able to share three of the more popular customs related to Christmas in France in this article, you can find more information and recipes at http://www.squidoo.com/christmas-in-france-customs
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