How is christmas celebrated in france

Christmas markets are very popular in France for their products, but also for their beauty and atmosphere. Craftsmen are most often found in small wooden chalets on a town's main square which is decorated in Christmas colours. Residents and tourists come to shop, and meet with friends or family over a glass of mulled wine.

Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas, December 24th. It is a very important time for the family to get together for dinner and to celebrate Christmas Eve together. Sometimes it is an opportunity to have dinner together before going to midnight mass in the village church. It's also common to exchange gifts on New Year's Eve instead of Christmas Day if the children are not present or no longer believe in Santa Claus.

What is traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve? As a starter, it is common to eat oysters, foie gras and smoked salmon. The traditional New Year's Eve dish is the famous Christmas turkey. And for dessert, the very popular Christmas log. The night before, after leaving a glass of milk and cookies for Santa Claus, the children go to bed looking forward to the next day.

Also known as the children's favourite day, Christmas Day, December 25 is the day when children discover the gifts brought by Santa Claus to the foot of the tree. Traditionally, Santa Claus enters through the chimney and places the gifts under the tree.

It is also said that the sound of Christmas bells can be heard after he has passed. At the beginning of the 4th century, his legendary generosity towards children was recognised and spread throughout Europe. In , Santa Claus became the mascot of the world-famous Coca-Cola brand, which was successful all over the world and established itself as the person who brings presents at Christmas. Even so, Saint Nicholas remains very present in the traditions of some countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands.

What does Santa look like? Santa Claus is medium-sized and corpulent. He wears a red jacket and red pants and a red and white hat. He also has a long white beard. He distributes presents using his sleigh and reindeer on the night of December 24th to 25th. What does St. Nicholas look like?

Nicholas is tall and thin. He impresses by his greatness. Ian Moore: bringing British traditions to a French Christmas. The impressive banquet includes seasonal favourites such as oysters with mignonette sauce, snails, foie gras, candied chestnuts and capon, a cockerel or rooster bird. While a small glass of sweet liqueur is the perfect accompaniment to the chocolate pudding, a merry flow of champagne is preferred with the main course.

The 13 traditional desserts eaten at Christmas in Provence. The French festive dining experience is most definitely a marathon, not a sprint, as festive feasts continue into the New Year a similar banquet to Christmas Eve is held on the last night of the year. Perhaps the most charming of the culinary customs happens on 6 January when families go to the boulangerie to buy the traditional treat of galette des rois to mark the feast of Epiphany.

A puff pastry cake, the dessert dates back to the 14th century and hides a figurine in its layers of pastry, butter and ground almonds. As well as having the normal Nativity figures in them, French scenes also have figures such as a Butcher, a Baker, a Policeman and a Priest.

In the Alsatian language it's called the "Christkindelsmarik". Yule Logs made out of Cherry Wood are often burned in French homes.

An old tradition is that the log was carried into the home on Christmas Eve and sprinkled with red wine to make the log smell nice when it was burning. Nicholas, and why is he celebrated on December 6th? The postal services have kept this up for four decades, replying to thousands of children on behalf of Father Christmas.

The French love Christmas decorations just as much as any country, but they tend to be more elegant here. These are a few of the most popular French Christmas decorations:.

Christmas trees have been popular ever since the first Christmas tree was decorated in Alsace in the 16th century. The wreath is made of fir and pine tree branches, all decorated with red bows and pine cones. They also have four candles at the top of the wreath to symbolise the four Sundays in the lead up to Christmas Day.

If you want to check out the largest Advent wreath in France, head to the stunning Strasbourg Cathedral! Another French Christmas tradition is to make yule logs from cherry wood and display them in the home on Christmas Eve. Some people even pour red wine on the log so it smells wonderful when it burns. It was once tradition to leave the yule log and candles burning through the night with some food beside it, in case Mary and baby Jesus arrived in the night.