Christmas in France Christmas in France

Decorations A few days before Christmas, families decorate their Christmas trees with stars, candles, lights and tinsel. Almost all homes have a manger scene, called une crèche . Parents go to church late at night and children usually stay home to get a good night sleep.

Food After church there is a big dinner. Families may eat goose, buckwheat cakes with sour cream, turkey, chestnuts, oysters, fruits and sweets. They may dance and put on Christmas plays and puppet shows.

Gifts Children put wooden shoes, called les sabots, by the fireside. Père Noël (Father Christmas) adds little toys, candy and fruit to the Christmas tree and fills the little shoes by the fireside. On Christmas morning, families exchange the gifts they find by the fireside and the tree.

Joyeux Noël