How to celebrate Christmas in France

Christmas for the French is one of the most important and fun annual holidays. Its traditions date back to ancient times( pre-Christian), when pagan Rome celebrated the winter sunshine, which happened just at the end of December. But then the holiday was named in honor of Saturn's victory over the winter - Saturnalia - it was during these days( December 17 to December 24) that you could feel that the winter night is getting shorter and the day is slightly longer. And, of course, such an important event was always accompanied by feasts and gifts.

With the advent of Christianity, the holiday "reborn".And December 25 became the Nativity of Christ. Although the meaning of the celebration remained the same: the light( Jesus Christ) casts away the darkness of the fallen on the earth.

Christmas tree

Of course, first of all, in the houses of the French there is a celebratory Christmas tree. There is an opinion that this custom was born in pagan Rome, but nevertheless finally and irrevocably the fir became a Christmas tree only in the 19th century. Originally it was decorated not with artificial toys, but with real ripe apples. And only a serious crop failure made the French resort to "fakes" - glass balls.

Before Christmas festive elegant spruce appear in all houses and on the central squares of big and small cities in France.

Birth of Christ

By popularity, a Christmas tree can only compete with French Christmas scenes depicting the birth of Christ. Historians believe that for the first time Christmas creches were created in 1562 in Prague by Saint Francois d'Aziz. Nowadays, figures for skits can be made to order( hand painted) or purchased less expensive( mass production) at December fairs in many cities of France. By the way, the figures have different sizes: from a small puppet, to a very real one( from an adult person).

Along with the "frozen" puppet scenes, the actors reproduce the birth of Christ and "live".Usually such mini-performances are arranged in the temples, accompanying them with pastors - funny stories from the life of ordinary people. Each year, new pastors are played out.

In addition to the scenes in France, parades are also arranged - processions of shepherds with dogs, herds and gifts to the temples. The most large-scale and beautiful are the pastures in Allosh, San Remy-en-Provence and Les Baux-en-Provence.

Together with the religious heroes on Christmas Day, the local Father Frost comes to the French. His name is Pere Noel and he is clearly the brother of Santa Claus. The custom to receive Christmas gifts from Pere Noel was born recently - after the end of World War II, when in France there were a lot of American soldiers.

Christmas log And the next tradition appeared long before the arrival of Pere Noel. It is a Christmas log. While the houses had fireplaces, the head of the family chose this very night the best log, which was then placed in the hearth, so that it burned there until midnight. Before the burning, the log was three times updated around the festive table, accompanying the action with special words.

Now there are not many fireplaces left in France, and the tree was replaced with a delicious cake( roll), the shape of which corresponds to a Christmas log.

"Neighbors" of a modern Christmas log on the festive table is necessarily some bird( more often a turkey or goose), as well as the best French champagne. Dishes( their quantity and taste) are given special attention, since they celebrate Christmas in France from the heart and are rather wasteful. For example, according to the traditions of Provence, there must be at least 13 kinds of dessert at the Big Supper.