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Posts from the ‘Paris’ Category

Dec 14

No. 78: Licking the Christmas Windows

This Christmas with the help of celebrated designers, les grands magasins in Paris have succeeded again in creating magical Christmas windows.

Every December I have been in France, I have spent hours gazing at these fairytale windows, and this year is no exception. At least one day a week I’m out and about licking the gorgeous Christmas windows (lèche-vitrines). The French really know how to dress a window, and I just can’t get enough.

This year’s theme is, “Once upon a Christmas…Before the Clock Strikes Twelve”.

The windows chronicle the journey of rag doll Lilly and a cuddly Teddy Bear as they try to get to Christmas before the stroke of midnight. Their adventure involves meeting and playing with hundreds of furry friends, most notably spirited mice and ritzy monkeys dressed and ready for any escapade, especially ones involving pocket watches and clocks. The windows are whimsical and dreamlike and tempt even the most curmudgeony of the French to crack a smile, find a glimmer of hope and remember the joyful anticipation of being a child at Christmastime.

Vocabulaire

lèche-vitrines: window shopping (literally, licking the windows)

les grands magasins: department stores

 

Dec 13

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No. 77: Lingering Autumn

It looks like nature forgot to tell the trees around the Eiffel Tower that it is Christmastime…mais pour moi, c’est merveilleux.

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This gorgeous tree just won’t give up.

Vocabulaire

mais pour moi, c’est merveilleux: but for me, it’s marvelous

Dec 13

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No. 76: la petite bûchette

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Imagine my delight when right after my Bûche de Noël afternoon with Marie-Françoise, I wandered into my corner pâtisserie to pick up some bread for dinner, et voilá, there behind the glass were these adorable bûchettes. As you know, j’adore anything mini in France, so I couldn’t pass them up. Four didn’t seem too lucky, so I bought five.

Dec 13

7 Comments

No. 75: Traditions – la Bûche de Noël

Bûche de NoëlI love the family traditions and special foods surrounding Christmas in France, and this week I had the opportunity to learn a few family secrets. I headed to the kitchen of my friend Marie-Françoise to learn how to make la Bûche de Noël, well actually three different Bûche de Noël…each cake a guarded recipe from three special women, from three different generations.

La Bûche de Noël is the traditional French Christmas cake, shaped like a log, made to symbolize the Yule log. The custom of burning a Yule log at the end of the year dates back to at least medieval times, when villages would gather to celebrate the Winter Solstice. After the shortest day of the year, the log would be lit to acknowledge the coming daylight and to welcome the New Year.

In the early days the Yule log was a carefully selected tree (yes, tree, and traditionally a fruit tree). Once chosen and cut, the bulkiest end was placed into the hearth while the rest of the tree filled the room. The tree was lit using the remains of the Yule log from the year before and burned from Christmas Eve, through the Twelve Days, and was extinguished on the Twelfth night. Whatever was left was stored carefully in the house to bring good luck and protect the family from lightning, of course.

Interestingly, according to Marie-Françoise, the tradition of burning the Yule log in Paris, came to an abrupt halt when Napoleon and his city planning pal, Haussmann decided to gentrify the city by tearing down the disorder and getting rid of the riffraff. The familiar Haussmann apartments, many of which did not have chimneys, replaced them.

Lacking the fireplaces to burn the logs, the culinary-inclined Parisians headed to the kitchen (or perhaps the corner bakery) to create (or pick up) an edible log and continue the tradition in a slightly different way.

As for yesterday, it was great fun learning to make three different varieties of Bûche de Noël, all with sweet and meaningful family memories attached.

Dec 10

No. 73: Fun Christmas Words

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a language post, but I’ve come across several holiday words and phrases in the last few days that have made me grin. Here is a petite sample:

le bonhomme de neige, a good old chap made of snow (or in this case lights)

le bonhomme de neige, a good old chap made of snow (or in this case lights)

  • Un bonhomme de neige: a snowman, but literally a snow “chap”, “fellow”, or “old sport”.  I love the jovial image that one conjures up, and it makes me wonder if a gingerbread man is called “un bonhomme pain d’épice”, because, after all, they are quite jolly fellows too. (Please do let me know.)IMG_2201
  • Noël sous le neige: white Christmas, but literally “Christmas under the snow.” How I love Christmas when it is under the snow!
  • canne à sucre: a candy cane, but literally a sugar stick, nothing like calling a spade a spade.IMG_2218
  • Père Fouettard: the boogeyman (who tags along with Saint Nicolas, and depending on the family, hands out coal to the naughty children, or in the worse case scenario, flogs the child); literally “father spanker” or “father whipper”.Hans_Trapp
  • Noël malin: Christmas sales, but literally “shrewd Christmas”; obviously only for those clever enough to shop the sales.

Dec 10

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No. 72: la guirlande de Noël

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The French shopkeepers do a marvelous job of gussying up their storefronts for Noël, doing their best to make it the most wonderful time of the year. The decoration of choice is la guirlande. From the grand boulevards to the smallest alleys and passageways, garland is wrapped around doorframes, dangling from awnings and framing candle-lit windows.

It’s easy to recapture that childlike excitement and anticipation at Christmastime in France.

Enjoy the Christmas magic I’ve come across this week.

Vocabulaire

la guirlande: garland

Dec 9

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No. 71: Bobbles

Paris is covered in sparkling bobbles en ce moment, et je les adore!

With les boules de Noël in all colors, sheens, and sizes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Vocabulaire

en ce moment: at the moment

et je les adore! and I love them!

boules de Noël: the bobbles, ball-shaped Christmas ornaments

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