Ronni<H3 align=left><IMG style="WIDTH: 29px; HEIGHT: 2px" height=15 src="http:forums.livingfrance.comimagesline.gif" width=301><BR><EM>Ronni<BR><EM><A class=authorlink href="http:" target=_blank><A><BR><H3> Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Sorry...for bringing up Christmas and it`s only October but.. as you can hopefully understand it will be our first Christmas in our house and we are soooo excited! A Christmas without TV!! Hurrah! ... kids not too sure but Hey! "ET" AND "It`s a wonderful Life" Video`s already packed!My Question being a total French Christmas Novice is.. Do the French have Christmas trees in their houses , If so where can I get one? Is everything shut Christmas Eve? Am I right in thinking that the french celebrate on Christmas Eve and recuperate on Christmas Day? I know there are loads of you that spend Christmas in France.. So tell me all about it please!Many Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Christmas trees will be on sale in December, perhaps a little earlier at all the supermarkets, garden centres, lots of places. And you will find all the decorations for them too in the shops.Things tend to close on christmas eve around 6pm sometimes a little later, but usually around then, it will be clearly indicated. I wouldn't suggest that you are not out shopping for anything of any consequence at that time anyway. It is a very very busy day. And we have the charge of the caddies at our main Carrefour on christmas eve morning, good job they haven't got motors on them, everyone would be reving them up waiting for that door to open and when it does it really is "charge!". Most customers trying to get to the sea food counter. It is the same on New Year's eve morning. In fact for all it is still very busy around lunch time on both these days, I usually go then, they still seem to have lots left, well what I usually want, that is.The tradition is to have many many courses and personally I have trouble eating the main course in the early hours. En famille we don't have as many courses and have well finished by midnight, if we are invited we go with the flow and the oysters, foie gras, gambas, smoked salmon, frog's legs etc etc, all come out from around 9pm onwards and then the main course, followed by cheese and a bouche de noel and voila it is 4 or 5 am. I really do have problems eating like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Lets be honest here, Christmas with kids is great anywhere. Now with our kids "grown up" youngest 20 (but still Mum gets their stockings filled !!) We go to the UK where we reckon Xmas is far better. See lots of old friends and family, pub on Xmas Day at lunch time, Kempton on Boxing Day and the following day, "left overs" for Boxing (and the following evenings). Tina at the sales with her mates, a few pub lunches with chums along the river. Great week or more and then back to France in the New Year, proper Xmas, just like they were and should be. It's one thing that the Brits can do better than the French Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David584 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 TU - hopefully you will get an invitation early enough so that you can go on a starvation diet 24 hours before!!! With that sort of festive celebration I would need 72 hours and even then I'm not sure that I would stay the course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronni<H3 align=left><IMG style="WIDTH: 29px; HEIGHT: 2px" height=15 src="http:forums.livingfrance.comimagesline.gif" width=301><BR><EM>Ronni<BR><EM><A class=authorlink href="http:" target=_blank><A><BR><H3> Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Mikki ,Have you been drinking!! 3 replies..!all the same! Thanks for your replies! I will have to try out the French Christmas.. and see, not sure if I can keep up with eating at 5am!! but I`ll give it a good go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 [quote]Mikki , Have you been drinking!! 3 replies..!all the same! Thanks for your replies! I will have to try out the French Christmas.. and see, not sure if I can keep up with eating at 5am!! but I`ll g...[/quote]Ronni,I could ask you the same "3 replies" ? and thanks for the extra "k" in miki !!No, you are right, I don't know what happened but I immediately went to "edit" to get rid of the duplications. So you were quick off the mark to spot that error.TU is right, it is very traditional but of course not all families do so until 05h00, it's not compulsory but still very nice to do so We have made it very much a French tradition by taking Oysters and Champagne on Noel morning with friends. Seems a bit too much perhaps but at £20 or so, for a few dozen oysters and a bottle of champers, it is good value n'est ce pas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 I'm a stickler for the 12th night tradition of getting the tree put away on Jan 6th whereas the french carry on with trees still up until end of January. I splashed out last year and got a lovely artificial tree complete with snow and pine cones attached(no squirrels thankfully) from Magasin Vert. Its quite large but I got so fed up with continually sweeping up pine needles and no matter what anyone says, they drop whether the tree has roots or has been treated especially in a warm house. Christmas here is low key compared to New year's Eve and events in the UK, people return to work anyway on Dec 26th after sleeping away most of the 25th from the blowout the night before. We treat ourselves to new DVD's,plenty of food and treats and slob out. If the sun comes out and usually it does here at xmas,then a walk along the nearby beach is the order of the day,but no cooking on Dec 25th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 RonniTo our complete surprise when we woke up on Christmas morning we could all smell fresh baking from the boulangers a few doors away. I immediatley left the frozen ones in the freezer and went to buy some fresh ones. Our house guests were completly taken aback by this and I think it made their day. Also the butcher and florist were open up to lunch time. Diana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumble Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 we will be spending our first chiristmas in france too. We are moving into our little french retreat around the 20th of december with our 3 young children. Wot a time to move on top of christmas so were going to bring all our pressies for the kids with us already wrapped. I also intend on cokking a HUGH english traditional dinner with all the trimmings as maybe next year when weve made some friends i also won't be cooking on the 25th.We need to keep it as normal for our children this year as its going to be a big change for them in a new french school etc. But hey maybe i'll be in the french way of thinking next year (i hope!)Glad we can get a christmas tree though i enjoy a real one even though they are messy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronni<H3 align=left><IMG style="WIDTH: 29px; HEIGHT: 2px" height=15 src="http:forums.livingfrance.comimagesline.gif" width=301><BR><EM>Ronni<BR><EM><A class=authorlink href="http:" target=_blank><A><BR><H3> Posted October 6, 2004 Author Share Posted October 6, 2004 Brumble ,Good luck in your Move, You will have a great Christmas I`m sure!Kind RegardsRonni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumble Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 RonniThanks for the vote of confidence. Where are you moving to and when? B nice to know how you get on.Cary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 ..............I also intend on cokking a HUGH .and if there is not a HUGH about, who then ? Merry Xmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronni<H3 align=left><IMG style="WIDTH: 29px; HEIGHT: 2px" height=15 src="http:forums.livingfrance.comimagesline.gif" width=301><BR><EM>Ronni<BR><EM><A class=authorlink href="http:" target=_blank><A><BR><H3> Posted October 7, 2004 Author Share Posted October 7, 2004 Cary,We unfortunatley are`nt moving over to france in the near future but hope to one day, Our children are , I assume older that yours and I`m very unsure about moving them, although for most families that do move with older children it does work no problem... but..I think that we will wait until they are doing their own things and we will be there like a shot! Our house is just outside Brecey , we have had it for two and a half years now and it`s finally getting there and I miss it so much when I`m here. Kind Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 [quote]Ronni To our complete surprise when we woke up on Christmas morning we could all smell fresh baking from the boulangers a few doors away. I immediatley left the frozen ones in the freezer and went t...[/quote]It was a revelation to us too on our first Christmas in France. I expected the baker to be open but not just about every other shop in the village - PLUS the usual piped music into the street (very Stepford Wives in my opinion). Last year it was so handy when my husband was peeling the supermarket bought prawns on Christmas morning to be able to say, when he felt they smelt a bit dodgy, that he should go to the village and buy some more!I'm with Miki on this one though. Christmas is one thing that the Brits still do MUCH better than the French.I think maybe next year we may even go and stay with my brother-in-law in Bedford to get a "proper" Christmas fix after seven years of the French second besters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorpe Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 After 10 years of ownership we decided last year that we would spend Christmas in France. We had been before Christmas after and spent a number of "New Years" celebration.Christmas Day - all quiet on the village front so we had traditional dinner 3 pm. Hubby went to throw away turkey carcass on the village rubbish dump and brought back out farmer neighbour who was on his own since his mother was in hospital and his wife and family had gone in visiting.After a few drinks he began to tell us about the birds that annoyed him with his crops!He then struggled to get his gun out of his pocket -brandishing it to the air and all around my sitting room and then took a real struggle to get out the ammunition and loaded it and then stood up and almost fired it indoors.We took him outside and gave him more wine a christmas pudding and pointed the direction of his farm!Spent the next few minutes checking that he had taken the route with no mishap!Thankfully he managed the journey very well. Us we are just relieved that he didn't manage to get his gun loaded and shoot in the house!¬Moral of the story - "woman of the house" - firsk all french male visitors - especially farming ones for guns! Could be fun!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 If you're not up to frisking farmers, you could always just ask "Is that a gun in your pocket?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicce Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 While we're on the subject of Christmas, does anyone else out there have a problem finding a decent sized turkey in the shops? We order a fresh one from a poultry farm but it works out really expensive.Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.