French New Year - Le Jour de l'An

Celebrating the New Year is a little different in France than in the US.

Les Cartes (Cards) – French people don’t send Christmas cards; they send New Year’s greetings cards instead. So if you are sending cards to folks in France, you don’t have to rush. People in France continue to wish each other la bonne année  throughout the minth of January! No interaction is complete in France in the month of January without prefacing it with Meilleurs Voeux (Best Wishes).

Les Étrennes – It is a common practice in France to give gifts of money to children and people who serve you on a regular basis: the mail carrier, the concierge of your apartment building, your local fireman, the cleaning lady (la famme de ménage), even the garbage man (les éboueurs). These sums of money are called les étrennes.

Le Réveillon – Christmas Eve dinner is known as le réveillon…and so is New Year’s Eve dinner! To distinguish the two, the celebration on the 31^st is called la Saint-Sylvestre, or le réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre, simply because the last day of the year happens to be that saint’s feast day. The festive meal is similar to the one shared on Christmas – goose or turkey, oysters, foie gras – with the addition of champagne, bien sûr, dancing and partying long into the night. Metros and public transportation in the large cities are free for the evening to discourage people from driving.

Le Minuit (Midnight) – At the stoke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, expect to receive kisses and hearty Bonne Année! or Bonne Année et Bonne Santé!  (literally: Happy New Year and Good Health). As you can see French don’t say “Happy New Year” but rather “Happy Year.”

Le Jour de ‘An (New Year's Day) – On New Year’s Day parades fill the streets and friends and family share their New Year’s Resolutions (une bonne résolution de nouvel an). They may also exchange cards and gifts.

French January Traditions

French New Year Vocabulary

Bonne Année !	Happy New Year!
Bonne année et bonne santé !	Happy New Year and Good Health!
une bonne résolution	New Year's resolution
les étrennes	New Year's gifts
le Jour de l'An	New Year's Day
la Saint-Sylvestre	New Year's Eve

Noël - Christmas in France

  Mon Beau Sapin

                                 Vive le Vent

                        

                                 Petit Papa Noël

Click here for cool, interactive site called " Le Village du Père Noël"

Click here for "Le Père Noël" vocabulary

Click here to make "un bonhomme de neige" - snowman

Click here to make "un arbre de Noël" - Christmas tree

Click here to make your own "maison en pain d'épice" - gingerbread house

Click here to email Le Père Noël ((en français)

Wish A Merry Christmas in French

Christmas Food in France

Best Christmas Gifts from France

What happens on Christmas in France

Ilona Mitrecey - Noël que du bonheur

Vocabulaire de Noël - 1

Vocabulaire de Noël - 2

Vocabulaire de Noël- 3

Bûche de Noël

A Bûche de Noël is a traditional French Yule Log Cake. There are so many recipes and so many ways to make a Bûche de Noël. The basic idea is that you make a rolled cake filled with buttercream, chocolate, or jelly, and then you cover it with decorations to make it look like a Yule Log!

Part of the fun of making a Bûche de Noël is finding the recipe that you like the best. Just search for Bûche de Noël and you will find hundreds of recipes! I will leave it to you to choose your own recipe. However, I am providing a few in case you have trouble locating one you like.

Bûche de Noël - 1 

Bûche de Noël - 2 

Bûche de Noël - 3 

Bûche de Noël - 4