Bonjour!

                Hope everyone has had de tr�s joyeuses f�tes, and that winter break is going well wherever you are. I promised that I would do a Christmas-themed blog, and this is a little belated, but here it is! I decided to wait until after Christmas so I could describe what it was like. I was really grateful to spend it with my wonderful host family, and to get to experience French holiday traditions first-hand. It was a little hard being apart from my real family back home, but that’s what Skype is for!

                In France, Christmas is called No�l. Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely adore Christmas, and I’m the crazy family member that’s outside the night of Thanksgiving putting up the Christmas lights, the one who bakes an insane and exhausting amount of cookies for neighbors and friends, the one who simply cannot wait to start playing the Christmas carols. I was so excited to experience Christmas France-style.

                 Beginning at the end of November, Montpellier was decked out in festive lights- sparkling strands strung across the streets, the Op�ra glittering white-gold behind an enormous sapin de No�l (Christmas tree) on La Place de la Com�die, illuminations flashing above the streets in the village where I live. In the city, vendors started selling paper cones of marrons chauds (roasted chestnuts) from decorated carts, the scented steam rising up in the chilly gray weather.

La Place de la Com�die

Close-up of marrons chauds roasting 

                Set up on the Esplanade, the march� de No�l (Christmas market) unfurled in a long corridor of wooden chalets beneath the plane trees, a miniature ice skating rink, and a roller coaster ride styled after Santa’s sleigh that continually blasted Christmas music. I spent a lot of afternoons and evenings wandering through the market, just admiring everything. You could buy all kinds of gifts and food- jewelry, crafted ornaments, cr�pes, pottery, children’s toys, cotton candy, clothing, chocolate, meats, cheeses, regional dishes. Something that is really popular here is vin chaud, mulled hot wine made with a variety of spices, which was the perfect cold-weather treat. I tried taking pictures of all of the lights and the market, but my camera is horrible at taking night-time photos so I apologize!

                At home, my host mom and I decorated the Christmas tree and put up garlands. I’m amazed the tree lasted because we’ve had it for over a month and they have not watered it once! But anyways, I’ve learned a lot of Christmas vocab during the past few weeks. One afternoon, my friend Lauren came over and we made vin chaud and a traditional rolled cake called a b�che de No�l, which literally means “Christmas log”.

Our very special sapin de No�l

Our b�che de No�l

                As for Christmas itself, I celebrated it with my host family and their relatives at my host mom’s cousin’s house in Montpellier. They had their Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, so we got all dressed up and had a fancy multi-course meal that lasted for hours. There were about 20 people there, so I did a lot of mingling and struggled to remember names and connections!  Their extended family is a mix of nationalities, my host mom’s family having moved to France from French-speaking Tunisia, and others from Italy and elsewhere in Africa, so the celebration reflected several cultures and it was neat to experience that.

First, we had an ap�ritif of white wine, little finger foods, and… cooked octopus tentacles. I was adventurous and tried a bite, but the idea of it kind of grossed me out too much to eat more. Afterwards, we had an entr�e of foie gras and raw oysters, both of which are traditional foods during No�l in France. If you don’t know what foie gras is, it’s a kind of pasty spread made from goose liver. It literally means “fat liver” and is made by intentionally fattening geese, and is considered a delicacy. It’s customary to eat it on bread or spiced gingerbread, with various kinds of toppings like fruit preserves or onion compote, like we had for Christmas. It takes several days to prepare, and my host mom made some so I kind of got to see the method. It’s in a loaf form, and you let it marinate in various liquids such as white wine, milk, or cognac that ultimately affect its flavor and texture. Personally, I don’t like it at all but I ate some just to try it!

Afterwards, we had a seafood dish with scallops, then a turkey stuffed with rice, fruits, and nuts, artichoke hearts cooked with sweet oranges, asparagus souffl�s (that were wayyy too salty, we all agreed), then bread and cheeses, then a chestnut-flavored b�che de No�l. The food was really good and I couldn’t even tell you how many bottles of wine we went through. I’m still not used to how long meals take here- it took at least three hours!

At midnight, they broke out champagne and played a Christmas carol that they apparently play every year as a family tradition. We gave each other bises (kisses on the cheek) and wished everyone joyeux No�l! Next, we sat back down at the table and exchanged des cadeaux from a huge mountain of presents at one end. We didn’t finish until 3:30am, but we were all exhausted in a good way!

After we’d rested up, we drove to my host grandmother’s house an hour away in Narbonne to have a smaller Christmas lunch with just the immediate family. The main dish was wild sanglier (boar) meat stewed in a red wine sauce, which my host mom prepared and which was delicious! I never thought I would end up eating some of the things I have.

All in all, it was a nice Christmas but definitely a different one for me! If you’re wondering about Christmas traditions in general in France, they’re fairly similar to US practices and beliefs. America has heavily influenced a lot of aspects of the French culture, and now the holiday is more consumerist than before. However, there are some unique traditions here that I’ve learned about:

–          Santa Claus exists here, too, and he’s called P�re No�l (Father Christmas).  Traditionally, children leave their shoes out on Christmas Eve, to be filled with little gifts and sweets, but customs are changing and now a lot of families have Christmas trees.

–          The region of Provence, close by where I live in Southern France, has a tradition of thirteen desserts at Christmastime (this number represents Jesus and the twelve apostles). They are little sweet things, like dried fruits, nuts, candies, etc., and are set out on Christmas Eve and displayed for three days. At our Christmas dinner, they were laid out on plates in the dining room.

–          A very prominent tradition here is the decorating of miniature nativity scenes called cr�ches. The figurines are called santons and are traditionally made in Provence by special artisans, who make them out of clay and hand paint them. They come in various sizes, and are styled after all kinds of people in a typical French village. At Christmastime, scenes are set up with santons and model buildings, to look exactly like a small-scale village. These cr�ches are displayed all over France.  I saw several, including one at the Christmas market in Montpellier and an enormous one in the town hall in Avignon.

Close-up of the cr�che at Avignon

Adorable bonnet de No�l that I just had to buy…

As well, here are links to some French Christmas carols just for fun:

Petit papa No�l: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdlWrDSTQ4Q

Vive le vent : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHwLer5ek4U

Il est n� le divin enfant : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2QEYNMIem4

Quite clearly, I could go on and on about Christmas but I think I will stop there for everyone’s sake haha. That’s all for now- joyeuses f�tes et bonne ann�e!  

~Julia

Location: Montpellier, France