Joyeux Nol

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Joyeux Noël

• Jenny Malkin

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Presents - Les cadeaux de Noël

• 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

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Food and drink Lalimentation et les boissons

• After Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve people
  gather at home or in a restaurant for a feast
  called le réveillon.

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Le Réveillon.

• Le Réveillon 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, in Alsace or
  turkey, le dindon in Brittany for the main
  course, all washed down with wine, le vin or le
  champagne.

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Le Réveillon.

• The typical French dessert on this occasion is a
  rich and creamy yulelog called La Bûche de Noël.

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• The most famous of all French carols Minuit,
  Chretiens!, or "Oh, Holy Night" was written in
  1847. Today, all over France, church
  congregations traditionally sing the carol at the
  stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve.

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Le Père Noël

• 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. Fruit, nuts and small toys hang on the
  Christmas tree.

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• Christmas Day is mainly a day of celebration for
  children. While they all 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.

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Les Santons

• Nearly every French home at Christmastime
  displays a Nativity scene or creche, which serves
  as the focus for the Christmas celebration. The
  creche often contains little clay figures called
  santons or "little saints." A tradition has
  evolved around these little figures which are
  made by craftsmen in the south of France
  throughout the year. The craftsmanship involved
  in creating the brightly coloured santons is
  quite detailed and the moulds have been passed
  from generation to generation. Throughout
  December the figures are sold at annual Christmas
  fairs in Marseille and Aix.

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• La Galette des Rois (also known as King's
  Cake)Traditionally, this cake is served on
  January 6th to celebrate the Epiphany. It is
  baked with a bean or a charm inside and whoever
  finds this surprise is crowned king or queen for
  the day!

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La Galette des Rois

• RECIPE (Serves 8 people)
• 130g sugar, 130g unsalted butter, 130g ground
  almonds, 3 eggs , two 30cm rounds of puff pastry,
  one charm.
• Preheat the oven to 200 C, beat the butter and
  sugar, add one egg then another. Add the charm
  and the almonds.
• Line a greased baking tin with one of the pastry
  rounds and fill it with the almond mixture. Beat
  a third egg and use it to brush the edges before
  sticking the second pastry around the top.
• Use a knife to make a diamond pattern on the
  pastry top, glazing with the remaining beaten
  egg.
• Bake for 30 mins until golden brown and serve
  warm with a crown on top.