Christmas in France

Christmas Holiday The 25th December is a public holiday in France, as it is in Britain. However, Boxing Day on the 26th is not a holiday, because it’s an English, not French, tradition. So everyone goes to work! Which days are holidays in France? a. 25th December b. 25th and 26th December c. 26th December

Saint Nicolas It was Saint Nicholas who was the original Father Christmas, or ‘Père Noël’ as he is known in France. Traditionally, it was St Nicholas who brought the presents to children. What is the French for ‘Father Christmas’?

Le Père Noël If you look carefully at the pictures of Santa and Saint Nicholas, you will find the the long white beard the Bishop's mitre, which is Santa's hat the red coat Complete this sentence: ‘Santa’s cape and hat look similar to a …………………’s clothing

Père Fouettard Père Noël travels with Père Fouettard who tells him how each child has behaved during the year. Good children receive presents. Naughty children get no gifts. In some parts of France Père Noël brings small gifts on St. Nicholas Eve (December 6) and visits again on Christmas Eve. Who helps Santa in his travels? What does he do?

Decorations In France, one of the most important decorations at Christmas time is the Sapin de Noël (Christmas tree). It is used in homes, streets, shops, offices, and factories.The trees in the streets are real, not plastic. The idea of the Christmas tree came from Alsace in the 14th century. What is the French for ‘Christmas tree’?The idea originated in Alsace in the …………… th century

Strasbourg, Alsace

Welcome at Christmas The Christmas wreath is hung on the door to say "soyez la bienvenue chez nous" (Welcome to our house). Originally, this was an Anglo-Saxon tradition which was later adopted by the French. The wreath is round shaped, to represent the sun hanging at the door. What does ‘ soyez la bienvenue chez nous ’ mean? Why is the wreath round?

The Christmas Wreath This is called: ‘La couronne de bienvenue’ in French.

History of the Christmas Wreath In the past, the Christmas wreath had four candles which represented the four weeks before Christmas, called Advent. Each Sunday, one of the candles was lit as a count down to the special day. The crown is often decorated with holly (le houx), the spiky leaves representing the Passion of Christ, and the red berries the blood of Christ. Why were 4 candles placed on the wreath? What does ‘le houx’ mean?

Le houx

The Holly Legend Tradition says that holly is important because of the way it helped the Holy Family. In order to escape from King Herod's massacre of the Infants, Mary and Joseph left for Egypt with the baby Jesus. On the way the holly trees spread out their spiky branches to protect and hide them. According to tradition, how did ‘holly’ help Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus?

The Holly Legend (2) As a reward, Mary declared that it would remain evergreen, as a symbol of immortality. Tradition also says that in order to have a prosperous year, you have to have holly in the the house at Christmas! Traditionally, having holly in the house at Christmas meant that next year was going to be …………….? Holly is ‘evergreen’. What does ‘evergreen’ mean?

Le gui : Mistletoe What is the French for ‘mistletoe’?

History of the Mistletoe This plant has a long history. For the ancient Celtic Druids, it was considered sacred because of its miraculous properties - in healing, protection against all sorts of evils, and witchcraft.

Mistletoe At Christmas, and more especially on New Years Eve, mistletoe is suspended - either from the ceiling, a rafter or in a doorway. It's the tradition to kiss under the mistletoe, a symbol of prosperity and a long life. Kissing under the mistletoe was supposed to bring you prosperity (wealth) and a …………………………..

La veille de Noël On Christmas Eve the bells of the churches and cathedrals ring to call people to the Mass at midnight. Midnight Mass is a tradition in Europe. What is ‘ la veille de Noël ’?

Le Calendrier de l'Avent Advent is the period of four weeks before the birth of Christ. With the Advent Calendar you can count down the days before Christmas. Behind each window or door, there are pictures or little chocolates or lollies. Spell the French word for ‘calendar’ _ _ _ _ _ _ r _ e _

Christmas Eve French children don't just leave out socks, they may also leave their shoes by the fireplace to be filled with gifts from Père Noël. French children might leave out both …………. and ………………. to be filled with gifts

Jour de Noël On Christmas morning they also find that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have been left by Santa. In other places it is ‘Le Petit Jésus’ who brings the gifts. Adults have no gifts at Christmas but wait until New Year's Day to exchange presents. What is the French for ‘Christmas day?’ Le _ _ _ _ de _ _ _ _

Santa’s reindeer The reindeer are called: Fougueux, (Dasher) Danseur,(Dancer) Fringant, (Prancer) Mégère, (Vixen) Comète, (Comet) Cupidon, (Cupid) Tonnerre (Donner or Thunder) Eclair (Blixen or Lightning). Le traîneau = the sledge Un renne = a reindeer What does ‘ un traineau ’ mean? What does ‘ un renne ’ mean?

La cr è che St Francis of Assisi is said to have been the first to make a Crib. This was in a cave in Greccio, Italy, during Christmas The tradition of having a crib at Christmas became very common in Italy and France. In Provence the little models in the crib are called ‘santons’ The first crib was supposed to have been created by St ……………………… of Assisi in Italy

La crèche Many French homes have a crib or crèche at Christmas time. They may also be seen in shops, town centres and churches.

Santons Santons’ are little figures that make the crib more like real life in a village. The characters are traditional and you can see them mostly in the South of France. In Provence in the south of France, the small clay figurines in the crib are called s _ _ t _ _ _

Le réveillon On Christmas Eve, when people have finished buying their last minute purchases, the streets become deserted. It's time for "le réveillon" or the special Christmas meal. All the family eat together at this time. People traditionally have seafood, such as oysters, roast turkey and ‘une bûche de Noël. What is ‘ le réveillon ’?

Ready for the ‘réveillon’

Le repas Le repas du réveillon a plusieurs plats. Chaque plat est accompagné d’un vin différent Write down what you think the French word for ‘meal’ is on this pageWrite down what you think the French word for ‘wine’ is on this pageThe Christmas Eve meal has several dishes: Work out which word means ‘dishes’The Christmas Eve meal has several dishes: Work out which word means ‘several’Each dish is accompanied by a different wine: work out the French word for ‘each’

Attention! If you are invited to a meal like this, be careful to remember not to eat too much to start with or you may not be able to finish the meal! Especially if you are in the South of France in Provence, where there are thirteen different desserts on the table!

Un menu de Noël en France? The following could be a typical Christmas or New Year meal for people in France You would have ‘nibbles’ to start the meal, for example: ‘Canapés’: little pieces of toasted bread which have delicacies on them ‘Vol au vents’: little pastry shells that contain a variety of tasty fillings ‘Crudités’: little pieces of raw vegetables such as carrot, celery or green peppers. Can you fill in the missing words? The following could be a typical Christmas or New Year meal for people in France You would have ‘nibbles’ to start the meal, for example: ‘Canapés’: little pieces of ……………. bread which have delicacies on them ‘Vol au vents’: little ……………. shells that contain a variety of tasty fillings ‘Crudités’: little pieces of ……………. vegetables such as carrot, celery or green peppers.

Les canapés

Les vol au vents

Les crudités

Les Apéritifs Often, Champagne is served as an apéritif (a before dinner drink).

Les aperitifs Other apéritifs are Kir Royale (Champagne with blackcurrant liqueur called "cassis"), Whisky or Pernod. You add water to Pernod to make it a long drink. When you do this, the drink becomes cloudy. The fruit cassis is a. raspberry b. blackberry c. blackcurrant The aperitif ‘Kir’ is a mixture of cassis and …………………………………

Entrée: Pâté de foie gras This is goose liver pâté. It is very expensive. You can only eat a little at a time. Sometimes it has a truffle for decoration. Fill in the missing word This is …………… liver pâté. It is very expensive. You can only eat a little at a time. Sometimes it has a truffle for decoration.

Les Fruits de mer This is seafood, for example, prawns, (les crevettes) crabs, (les crabes), crayfish (les langoustines) or trout (les truites). Fill in the missing words This is seafood, for example, …………, (les crevettes) crabs, (les crabes), ………….. (les langoustines) or ………… (les truites).

Le plat principal la dinde (turkey) This comes with some vegetables and is served with a nice sauce La salade (green salad) After this is la salade. This is to clean the taste of the other food from your mouth. It is also a rest between courses. Find the French on this page for ‘main dish’

La dinde et la salade

Le fromage:Cheese Now it is the ‘le fromage’ or the cheese course. Some famous cheeses are: Camembert, Brie and Gruyère. You would eat the cheese with bread and drink red wine. What is the French for cheese?

Dessert Still got some room? Time for ‘les fruits’! During winter most fruit is imported from warmer climates. As it’s Christmas, people try to find something really special.

More desserts And there’s more! Now it’s everyone’s favourite – la bûche de Noël.

La B û che de Noël La B û che de Noël (Christmas log) est un g â teau de Noël sp é cial. Elle est en forme de bûche de bois. Dedans il y a de la crème et la bûche est recouverte de chocolat Can you find the French word for : ‘ cake ’Can you find the French words for : ‘ in the shape of ’“Inside it there is cream and the log is covered with chocolate” : ‘ Inside ’“Inside it there is cream and the log is covered with chocolate” : ‘ covered ’

Le café - Coffee To finish, everyone would have a cup of coffee.(une tasse de café) and a very special Champagne. There might be some "petits fours" to eat as well - these are little biscuits. What are ‘ petits-fours ’?

Les petits fours

Les digestifs Sometimes people like to drink a "digestif" after their meal. This is a strong alcoholic drink served in tiny glasses. Digestifs are made from grapes or any fruit and are often called "eaux de vie". There is even an eau de vie de sapin! (pine digestif!)

Les digestifs

? desserts in Provence! In Provence, at Christmas, there is the tradition of serving ? different desserts at the end of the traditional Christmas Dinner !!!! Have a guess at how many different desserts you could be served in Provence? Closest guess wins! 13 desserts in Provence! In Provence, at Christmas, there is the tradition of serving 13 different desserts at the end of the traditional Christmas Dinner !!!!

13 desserts The desserts have a religious meaning. The number thirteen represents the twelve Apostles plus Jesus. The first four desserts were traditionally for the religious orders (monks and nuns) who begged for their food: almonds for the Carmelites figs for the Franciscans raisins for the Dominicans walnuts for the Augustines

Les treize desserts de Provence

Then four dishes of fresh fruit: Apples Pears Oranges melons

Nearly finished! Last, but not least..... black nougat and white nougat quince jam candies A savoury bread (fougasse) filled with sun dried tomatoes, or anchovy paste, olive oil and garlic dates

Les trieze desserts de Noel

Count up your scores Which partner has scored the most? Collect your prize!

Joyeux Noel! Et Bonne Année!