The Good Life France Newsletter December 2013 (2)
Bonjour!
Well, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in France – no surprise really as it’s only a few days until Christmas Day now!
If you’re still thinking of nipping to a Christmas market – you’ve got time so don’t forget to check out our great Christmas in France 2013 book – it’s free to download and full of fantastic ideas for visits, recipes from top chefs and little tips about French Christmas traditions! Among the many Christmas markets I’ve been to in France, Lille is one of my favourites as the town puts on such a show at this time of year, you can read about in my Ho Ho La La report to find out what made it so funny!
We thought we’d tell you a heart-warming story for the season about poor Marcel the one eyed cockerel who was chosen for the pot… I’m not telling you anymore – you’ll have to read what happened to him in this true story of overcoming the odds!
Margo Lestz tells us all about the Santons of Provence – the little nativity figures we see all over France that might include Pizza makers, wine makers and cake makers amongst the religious figurines!
Talking of cake – we took a look at the history of the Buche de Noel (the Christmas yule log cake) and we discovered Maison Stohrer – the oldest patisserie in Paris, founded by the personal pastry chef of Louis XV – just fabulous.
Staying on the cake theme – how about 13 desserts after the big Christmas meal? It’s a tradition from Provence I think I could adopt quite easily!
Paris Loves Pastry shared a Christmas cake recipe with us for a Chocolate Cream Puff cake which looks just gorgeous and Paola, our very own Queen of French Cuisine baked us a cake with Agen prunes, almonds and Armagnac which tastes fantastic and goes very well with mulled wine!
If you need some ideas for French style at your Christmas dinner or party, Jill Barth, our wine expert, shares her top tips for serving wine and champagne to add a little oh la la to the proceedings.
Susana Iwase Hanson from Provence told us about her first ski-ing holiday in France with the kids and her ski-mad husband – a very funny story, let’s just say – if it could go wrong, it did!
Kimberley Petyt, THE Paris Wedding planner and author shared memories of her first Christmas in France, she was newly arrived from Chicago, spoke hardly any French and was plunged straight into a big French family Christmas gathering – very funny and definitely tells it how it is!
Wishing you all a very Joyeux Noel,
Merry Christmas!
