Noël en France :-)

Publié par Miguel RIVIERE sur 26 Décembre 2013, 21:44pm

Catégories : #France, #Lifestyle

Roads go ever ever on

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar.

Eyes that fire and sword have seen

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last on meadows green

And trees and hills they long have known

Hej people!

After four months in Sweden, I am finally back home in Normandy where I spend a week with my family before retourning to Sweden. And it feels good to be here for some days before continuing my adventures :-)

I thought about doing a kind of "reverse" post, for my Swedish and international friends to know a bit about France, so here it is :-)

The journey back home

On Tuesday I had a long day. I woke up early to take my plane, which was delayed, to go to Paris. The weather was very good and I had a seat next to the window so I could enjoy the sight from there. It was really sunny, and seeing the Swedish countryside from above was really cool. Our houses, towns and fields look so small from up there! When I arrived in France, I could witness that there is not such i big difference: it's a bit more hilly, with more fields than forests, but the rest (the weather for instance) is not so different. There are of course more villages lost in the fields, but agriculture is still prominent. I surprised myself thinking about how important agriculture was for us and how unaware of it people were, despite their homes being surrounded by crops and cows grazing around! The countryside has just become an empty space people seek for quietness, and then they cross it the quickest possible to go to work and shop in the cities. The faster the better.

As I arrived in Paris, I was struck by the noise! People are really stressed and in a hurry there. Of course, it's also the case in Stockholm, but, as far as I know, Swedes seem to be calm and more respecful of the others. In Paris, the strongest goes to the toilets first, and the one who shouts the most has a seat first in the train XD My wild instinct woke up and I finally found my way through the urban jungle to arrive at the station were I missed my train and had to wait for the next one. As my phone wasn't working, I had to use an antiquity, and for that I am grateful that France is still a bit old-fashioned compared with Sweden where I think it would be hard to find these things dating back to the past ages :

It saved my life, and I managed to arrive safely home! How strange it is to come back after 5 months! I feel home, and I feel away at the same time. I guess it's normal.

FOOD !!

And then it was Christmas already. In France, people have a big dinner in family on 24th, and then a big lunch on the 25th, that lasts from 11am till 7pm (at least!) Here are some pictures of typical food you would find for Christmas in France, or at least in Normandy as I heard there were some differences with other regions further from the sea. A typical Christmas meal would be :

1/ Apéritif, when people gather, drink and have appetizers :)

2/ Entrée, with Foie gras, smoked Salmon and Sea food coming directly from the coast.

3/ Main dish, usually game meat or Chapon (a big rooster) or turkey, coming with mushrooms, a berry sauce,etc....

4/ Sallad and cheese, of course ;-)

5/ Dessert, usually with a Christmas "bûche", in form of an ice cream or pastry one.

6/ Coffee, champagne and whatever you can still put in your already oversized tummy :)

Tempting, isn't it?

Concerning the rest, I enjoyed seeing my family again a lot, and we spent very good moments together! Santa was generous and brought me a new camera, with which I took the pictures of the food :-)

And you, what do you eat for Christmas at home, what are your traditions and what did Santa brought you??

I can't wait to see you all again! Enjoy your holidays and vi ses snart!

Mig