1. Joyeux Noël Jenny Malkin

2. 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

3. Food and drink – L’alimentation et les boissons After Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve people gather at home or in a restaurant for a feast called le réveillon.

4. 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.

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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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!

11. 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.