All things Christmassy - French stylee

[nannyme]

We are living in Deux Sevres, near Niort and this year will be our first French Christmas. Very much looking forward to it as we are in a wonderfully friendly village and have a great house for once.

I wonder:

Is one able to obtain 'real xmas trees'?
Where does one go for proper xmas shopping - England? Paris? The nearest Leclerc?
Can you get Turkey - not bothered if not but if doing beef I need to know what horseradish is in French and where to get it!

Thanks.

we're in the very far north of France so not sure how much help this will be.

we got a great turkey from a local farm last year. might be worth a go? can't help with horseradish translation, i'm afraid, although i've definitely had it here.

there was a christmas tree in our garden when we got here, but i've seen them in garden centres as well.

shopping wise we brought a few things back from the UK (crackers of both types and some other bits) but mostly went local. there are some fantastic christmas markets/events round here with loads of lovely things. didn't miss blighty at all!

You can buy real Christmas trees no problem.

Not sure what you mean by proper Christmas shopping, but everything in France goes very Christmasy at that time of year, from high streets in towns to markets, supermarkets.

You can get plenty of turkey, and anything you want. It's a bit like here in that there are traditional meats but people these days are straying away from that.

Horseradish sauce = sauce au raifort. May be hard to find.

The main xmas event is xmas eve in France "the reveillon" where everyone stays up until midnight. Buy a "Buche de Noel" (xmas log) if you want a traditional French custom - very rich but a thing of beauty. Do all your shopping in advance as most of France is pretty dead for the next couple of days.

(I spent the first 18 years of my life having xmas in France at my grandparents!)

I love the french traditional christmas, the xmas log and the traditional food on offer is great, but that was years ago, I would guess leclerc (if it's a big one) has most of what you need, we had a massive Carrefour, are they still around?.
The markets around christmas time are lovely too. You are so lucky, I've gone all nostalgic just remembering the great reveillons we had (could have been something to do with the armagnac though - I was in south west France!).

Thanks for these replies. Very pleased to have a horseradish translation, thank you ADad!

I am all up for having a completely French Christmas and certainly don't want to be all ex-pat about it, going back to the UK for absolutely everything.

Christmas log sounds great, as do the xmassy markets.

By proper Christmas shopping I mean good toy shops and department stores I suppose. We don't have a big Christmas budget but if I shopped locally it would go very fast as a lot of what is available gift wise is expensive tat. Sorry, but the local toy shope only stocks stuff that is in sun faded packaging and has greetings cards that are yellowing and curled at the edges!

I find that travelling to larger towns or cities such as Niort or Tarbes you find 10 boulangerie as opposed to 1, a couple of hairdressers and tabacs and still not a lot in the way of shops for window shopping/buying things you probably shouldn't. Clothes shops that aren't part of a chain are too expensive for me.

If I am honest, I haven't got the hang of french shooping. Absolutely fine with grocery shopping and can buy all the kids' stationery and school bits at Super U, etc. but I was an ex-Bromley resident and there is no Glades equivalent for sure.

Gosh, I sound like I expected France to be like England! This is not a source of major consternation I assure you, but I certainly haven't the hang of it all yet! I know I will be doing a UK trip for top up clothing bits, but I'd prefer not to iyswim!

I think alot of the better value clothes and toys are usually in those big industrial areas in mega stores. I lived for a while near Carcassonne and the mum I knew made a day trip to Toulouse to do her clothes shop for the little ones. Then I lived in Biarritz and theer was a big commercial area for all the good prices - the town centre had small expensive shops.
Did you do the couronne de roi cake yet? Can't remember when that was -spring or autumn!

Sounds like you may need to daytrip to Toulouse maybe? That would have everything, and I'm sure must have a decent toyshop. What about Pau?

I too am getting a little nostalgic now about Christmas in France!

Other Christmas traditions - you leave slippers under the tree for santa to fill with presents.

I had a suspicion that it might be a case of zone industriel shopping! We bought shoes in Pau at a big bargain place.

This shopping solely for purpose felt really odd! I used (in UK) to have a shopping list and then go for an amble round M&S, Next, Hennes, Clarkes, etc. You'd have to drive to Geant and then on to Darty, etc. Weird!

Have just Googled the couronne gateau au couronne de roi! Is it March?! KNew nothing of it

Oooh! I like the slippers tradition!

We are now a little far from Toulouse - we were in Maubourguet, near Auch and Pau. TGV to Paris is very fasy from here (near Niort) but a little pricey and I wouldn't really know where to start in Paris.

Maybe I should pop to Amazon for a French shopping guide?

agree with admylin about thos big industrial parks too.

The 'gallette des rois" you have at epiphany which is in January isn't it? Can't remember exactly. Very traditional - inside the cake there is a 'feve' a kind of stone thingy, and whoever gets that in their slice gets to wear the crown you get with the cake. My brother and i used to cheat and keep the feves year to year and 'find' them in our slices.

6th january for epiphany. Just checked. It's not my favourite kind of cake tbh though, quite buttery, almondy flaky pastry.

Oh, now I am really nostalgic, I spent the best years of my life in Gers and lived in Auch for a while too, Pau is a gorgeous town.
Have you picked up the accent yet, it is so sweet when the country farmers talk I love it. I would love to return there but that will probably never happen. I used to travel from one fetes de villages to another with a group of musicians "bandas" that my boyfriend was in, I couldn't play any instruments so they gave me the symbols and a waistcaot and I just followed but it was great, at every cafe we stopped, played, drank pastis and carried on till night time. Bringing back great memories, wish I could move there.

To be honest, I find Christmas a bit frustrating here. I have been here for years and still find the shopping a challenge - driving between big out-of-town warehouses or forking out fortunes for chic little in posh boutiques - there seems to be little in between, or maybe I'm missing something...?

Big bonus here though, Christmas decorations go up in the shops in December - hooray!

If you want to do the food properly you should order a turkey from your local boucherie (though you won't find giant feed-the-five-thousand turkeys here), your buche at the patisserie etc. Expensive, but authentic.

The general idea on the day itself is to spend all of it sitting around the dinner table, with a brief window around sundown for washing up/a stroll round the block. No charades around the fire or lolling on the sofa in your new slippers watching Octopussy. I get a numb bottom and in-law fatigue.

Though you'll have all the advantages of doing it in a pick and mix kind of way, with all the best British and French traditions, ignoring all the dull or silly bits, I'm very envious