This was my first Christmas in France!!! Here are 5 things that I’ve observed.
1 Clean shoes
Place your shoes below the tree (or ideally, under the chimney) on 24th December. That’s right, no socks! Make sure your shoes don’t smell is essential 😉 Your family will then place your presents under or next to your shoes. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you 😛
2 Unboxing is on 25th Dec
Unbox is on the 25th December morning and ALL family members MUST be present. The kids couldn’t sleep at all wahaha
3 Christmas eve, Christmas lunch, dinner…
The meals are all huge and with lots of punch, aperitif, champagne, wine, digestif… So after day one, all meals started to blur into one. Referring to my other post, please be reminded that ‘food coma’ does not exist in the French culture. Therefore, be strong and do NOT nap in between. Nap is not an option. Nieces and nephews will not let me either.
4 Solution to food coma
Option A – very loud children
Option B – go for a walk, no matter how cold
5 Traditional food
- Foie Gras (cold)
- Compote (meshed apples / apples sauce)
- Boudin blanc(beef sausage)
- Chestnut
- Salmon
- Turkey
- Duck
- Oyster (more for new year according to historians, but my family seem to have it for Christmas as well).
*Champagne is a daily thing, right? This is France 😛 (joking)
That’s it! My ‘French Christmas’ observation is based on my family’s tradition. Perhaps you do it differently? Please do share. 😀
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14 Comments
Amazing, proffesional photos; interesting post, great design of blog ! Really pleasure to visit it.
I invite to my Christmas posts. F. ex. Christmas in Madrid:
https://traveltomeetyourheart.wordpress.com/2017/01/12/madrid-in-the-christmas-period-belen-and-christmas-markets/
Putting shoes underneath christmas tree – that sounds totally new
Yes, right? I was like, er… how about hygiene? (LOL)
Fascinating cultural insights Joyce.
Thank you, Denis 😀 I must say, your words means a lot because you’re one of my first subscribers + you have stuck with me through many posts. Thank you xox
Wow, the food looks so good, especially the oysters. What a great tradition. ????
Thank you for dropping by and the comment, Barron 🙂
This is so interesting! 😀
I’ve never heard of the shoe thing! 😛
The whole unboxing thing on Dec 25th morning is pretty universal… um, what do you mean kids can’t sleep? They’re usually the first ones up and bugging everyone to get up to open presents! XD
*LOL* I was just commenting on your blog when I received your comments. Ja, that shoe thing was a first for me.
Well, the kids were all tooooo excited and none of them wanted to sleep. Plus they try to sneak peak. It was crazy.
Love the shoes under the tree. That’s one way of knowing what gifts are yours without looking! Are stockings tradition in France? X
I asked about that, no stocking when my hubby was a kid. I guess the shoe replaced the stocking? No idea haha
Haha I thought the shoe might replace a stocking. I bet all kids hoped they had bg feet and big shoes to fill up xx
I wanna come visit one Christmas!!!
Yes. Perhaps 2018? 😛 The re-union is this December, no?