How do we celebrate Christmas?

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR !

In this series of articles Swati, Florian Ludivine , Sirine, Loic and Lara describe what they usually do or are going to do for Christmas. Here's the first article written by Swati. ( 13 years old )

Every year I go to my aunt's parents' house to celebrate Christmas. They live in Cholet ( in Vendée) and have a large garden and a big house. We usually go there by car.
We celebrate Christmas with my uncle, aunt, cousin, grandfather, mother, father, sister and my aunt's parents. We have a nice Christmas dinner because my aunt's parents always order food from a caterer. We open our presents after dinner and we always play with our cousin. she's so sweet! Her name is Cyrielle, she's three years old and her birthday was on November 15th. We don't sleep in my aunt's parents' house, we stay in a hotel and in the morning we come back to my aunt's parents' house.


But my parents don't like to have to drive back to their house in the morning. So this year we are going to celebrate Christmas in a gite so everybody will be in the same house and will have breakfast together. We will also open our presents in the morning. I think it will be better !
I love Christmas!!
Here's the second article written by Florian.( 13 years old )





Every year we celebrate Christmas at home. We decorate the Christmas tree. We put up baubles, tinsel and lights.
We don't have a special meal because my mum ( who is a nurse) sometimes works in the hospital at Christmas.On christmas Day we open our presents. I usually stay up late on Christmas Day because I play with my games ! Merry christmas!

Here's an article written by Ludivine ( 16 years old )


I generally spend Christmas with my family. We have a huge dinner together composed of snails, foie gras ( goose liver) and turkey. We have a good time, we laugh a lot and speak a lot!This year I'm going to Loriol which is near Valence for Christmas. My uncle and aunt will be there too. We usually go to church before having dinner then we have a huge dinner and it lasts until the early hours of the morning. My mother and my aunt walk back and forth between the dining room and the kitchen. We all have a good time.
At midnight, the meal is generally not over but it is the time when we give presents to each other. We thank everyone and the night before Christmas we remain seated at the table eating for hours! But when my cousins are there we have fun throughout the night.
On New Year's Eve we invite the family over and we have a big dinner together. We have fun and watch TV at the same time to be informed of the time. A few seconds before midnight we start counting down to midnight then we wish each other a " Happy New Year".




After that my cousins and I go out on the street to let off some crackers. On the next day we cook a big dinner and call our friends.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Acknowledgements : Photos provided by Smaku ( Christmas tree ) , Glynnish ( Foie gras), Dincordero ( Happy New Year), Trajesh ( crackers), Bizzy gail ( Christmas table ) and Imelda ( Christmas presents) under Creative Commons Licence via Flickr.

The following articles are from Sirine ( 14) and Loic ( 12).

In my family we usually celebrate Christmas with my grandparents and some friends. My mother cooks a big dinner composed of turkey or mediterranean recipes. Every year, in December we buy a Christmas tree, my brother and I decorate it with orange and red ornaments, a yellow star on top of the tree and beads. We put the presents under the tree just before having dinner on Christmas Eve. then we have dinner and talk a lot until about midnight. After that, we give half of the presents to each other and the second half of the presents on the following day.

On christmas Day, we get together , family and friends and have a big dinner.But this Christmas is going to be special. My relatives from Tunesia are coming round and are staying for two weeks. We are going to have a huge dinner composed of sea-foods and all kinds of salads and meat and my mother is going to make a huge " bûche de Noël" ( Swiss roll). We are going to talk a lot, play games and perhaps dance. Anyway we're going to stay up late.



We're planning on giving the presents the day after Christmas Day. I'm looking forward to it!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!!!





The following article has been written by Loic.

We usually stay at home for Christmas. My family visits us. On Christmas Eve, we have a big dinner. We have the traditional French dinner on Christmas Eve. We play games and listen to Christmas carols. Before Christmas we buy a Christmas tree and my parents and I decorate it, we put up ornaments, tinsel and lights. We usually have an Advent calendar filled with small coloured-figures.This year on Christmas Eve we're going to my aunt's in Maison-Alfort ( near Paris). The family is getting together for dinner. I am going to make a cake. Then on Chrismas Day we're going to my grandmother's and my mother is going to cook. We're going to open our presents on Christmas Day and are going to listen to music and then watch TV.
We're going to talk a lot.


I love Christmas because it is the time when we give presents to each other and when my family gets together.
MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Ackowledgements : Photos provided by Netz Kobold ( sea food) , Barbara Rich ( Caviar), Heniusia ( oysters), QuanNguyen ( bûche) Vespabelle ( Advent calendar) and Kris de curtis ( ornaments) under Creative Commons Licence via Flickr.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE !

This article is from Lara ( 15 ) the Christmas dinner is not her favourite dinner!!!

I celebrate Christmas Eve with my family. We eat a lot of disgusting things. I don't like the Christmas menu, I hate " Foie gras", I hate chestnuts.... The only thing I like is " Buche de Noël". So this year I don't know if I will eat anything yet it depends on the menu. We usually have a Christmas tree and I decorate it with tinsel, various ornaments and a star on top of it but this year we don't have any christmas decorations in the house because no one in my family wants to get into the Christmas spirit this year.

This year I am going to celebrate Christmas in front of the television . But on New Year's Eve I may meet my friends and have fun with them. I may go to my friend's Lorene and we will have fun. There will be 8 people especially friends from my former school. We are all in different highschools now so we have a lot of things to tell each other.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

A trip to Alsace

The Christmas market in Strasbourg.

Christmas markets are traditional in Alsace and most of the towns have their local Christmas market. These markets are becoming more and more popular throughout France due to the festive season atmosphere they evoke. The Christmas market in Strasbourg is the biggest in France.Last Friday we drove to Lorraine and stayed in a hotel in Phalsbourg, a picturesque town in Moselle which lies not far from the ropes of the Vosges. It is about 40 kilometres from Strasbourg and it is a Vauban fortified town well-known by lots of people who read a book called "L'ami Fritz" written by Herckman and Chatrian in 1864. The two men met when they were school boys and attended the same secondary school in Phalsbourg.On Saturday morning, our coach driver headed for our first destination which was Obernai in Alsace. Obernay is a beautiful town characterised by breathtaking timbered houses. Obernai is also famous for its beer production.We started our guided tour by visiting a gingerbread bakery. As it is a small business we were allowed to meet the few employees who were busy making the various gingerbread figurines and traditional Christmas decorations. We couldn't resist buying some personalized gingerbread hearts!!Then we continued our tour visiting the church where some nativity scenes created by Canadian artists were displayed. Some were so unusual that my husband and I have decided to make one for Christmas.

After a traditional lunch composed of "Choucroute de poissons" ( Fish and sauerkraut or sour cabbage) and a delicious white wine ( Alsace is also famous for its white wines), we headed for Strasbourg.The biggest Christmas market in Strasbourg lies around the cathedral and Place Broglie. Lots of visitors from France and Germany flock there to do their Christmas shopping. There are hundreds of stalls selling homemade handicrafts, toys and Christmas decorations. Crib figurines and wood carvings are also displayed and the atmosphere is festive. Difficult to resist buying some table decorations!!And you can smell various aromas from hot chestnuts, grilled sausages, onions, cheese to the aromas of gingerbread and "vin chaud" ( hot mulled wine) that keeps the body going in the cold winter air.
Then as we were a bit tired of walking about in the crowds, we decided to stroll along the waterway to get to the most picturesque part of old Strasbourg " la petite France".

Fishermen, millers and tanners lived and worked there. The half-timbered houses date from the 16 and 17th centuries and their sloping roofs that open out onto lofts were the place where hides were once dried.

In the early evening we headed back for Phalsbourg to meet a group of people who had decided to go hunting. Hunting plays an important role in the life of people living in this part of France.

We all met around a bonfire to praise the brave hunters and honour their wild game. A branch of pine tree was given to each hunter as a trophy and the ceremony was very impressive only interrupted by horn players. Most people think that the " trompe de chasse" and the " cor de chasse" is the same instrument. The two instruments are so much alike that you can't tell them apart. However each instrument has specific features. For example the " trompe de chasse" is a bit longer than the " cor", the inner part of the bell is black and last but not least the tone of each instrument is different.
In the evening we all met in a traditional restaurant for a traditional dinner: Flammenkuche, bakehof and an Alsacian pie with cinnamon.

We all had too much to eat and said we would start a diet on Monday!!

After a good night's rest we continued our tour and visited a baker's workroom. We watched how Christmas cookies were made. Very interesting. Christmas cookies are based on family traditions. They are cut into various shapes related to Christmas. In France some people leave a cookie and a cup of coffee on the table for Santa Claus on Christmas eve.Finally we ended up that busy weekend in the hotel/restaurant where we stayed at and had a delicious meal before driving back home. On the way back to Paris we had a strong gale and pouring rain so it took us more time than we had expected to get home but we were indoors by 7.45 pm. All in all we had a brilliant weekend in Alsace . Vive l'Alsace!

Special thanks to Marie-Laure ( our guide on Saturday) Hervé ( the hunting organizer) Aline and to all the people who contributed to make these two days the most enjoyable.

Acknowledgements : photo ( sparkling christmas tree ) provided under Creative commons Licence by KaCey97007 via Flickr.