Christmas Window Shopping in Provence

Dec 4th was St. Barbe's Feast Day which was the beginning of the "Calendales" in Provence.  After the tradition of setting up three saucers of wheat which will grow from now until Christmas, until Christmas Eve most Provencal people will set about Christmas shopping and getting ready for their celebrations with friends and family.

We've taken a tour of Avignon's Christmas Market so now ... let's take a walk through some towns and villages to look at the store windows and "lecher les vitrines" - let's go window shopping at Christmastime in Provence.

  

            Green Christmas trees and snow covered trees spilling out onto the street ..

Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Christmas trees ... so yummy to eat.

Elegant white and gold Christmas trees with pretty wrapped goodies beneath

This glittering red tree for a merry and bright Pharmacie

 Twinkling Christmas stars lead to a warm place on a cold, winter's night

Santa's workshop ... overflowing with toys of lots of good girls and boys

Santa's Elves make lots of toys to fill all the shelves!

A snowy scene filled with Christmas candy to fill "les petits souliers" ("Christmas shoes" take the place of Christmas stockings).

                       A chocolate fire engine and a fire fighter's helmet - what a treat!

One of Santa's helpers getting ready for a photo shoot .. amongst some great gift ideas

Lots of elegant gifts and decorations for La Maison

Are you dreaming of a white Christmas?

Twinkling lights, tinsel and ladies in traditional Provencal costume dancing the traditional Farandole 

 Holly and Ivy with elegant green and silver bows

.. And for Madame or Mademoiselle .. a stylish new Christmas outfit?

Shoes from the festive Lulu Shoes...

and to accessorize ... tulle and bows, perhaps a scarf or hat

A visit to this Salon de Coiffure ... is sure to put anyone in the Christmas spirit

Don't forget the Optometrist, filled with purple and white balloons 

- must be able to get a good look at all your gifts! 

Santa's waiting in the window of the Real Estate Agency to show you to 

your new home just in time for Christmas!

If driving lessons are on your list, Auto Ecole is just the place to visit

Christmas dessert - the traditional Buche de Noel, beautifully decorated a

nd ready to take home

Christmas Eve approaches ... Santa, his reindeer, polar bears and other friends at the North Pole are on the job making sure he is on time with all deliveries.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, all of France celebrates La Fete des Rois with the traditional Galette des Rois.  Here they are beautifully displayed and complete with crowns for the last celebration of les Calendales (the Christmas Season).

                                                          Happy Window Shopping!

On the 12th Day of Christmas - It's La Fête des Rois

As I spent a part of New year's Day dismantling the Christmas Trees, I was reminded that if I were in Provence, we would be only a part of the way through the Christmas season, and an array of colored lights could still be seen twinkling in the windows as you walk down the narrow streets of Sablet.  

Lights twinkle in the Dining Room window of Maison des Pelerins at Christmas time

Decorated windows of a  village house in Seguret

La Fete des Rois or Three Kings Feast is a very popular part of the Christmas celebration

The seasonal celebrations continue until the Feast of the Three Kings (the Epiphany) or La Fête des Rois on the 6th of January, but the signs of this day can be seen well before the day.  Even before Christmas, you will see the traditional cake the "Galette des Rois" wearing golden crowns, decorating the windows of Pâtisseries everywhere.

Galette des Rois - this type made with puff pastry and Frangipane - a popular dessert ingredient in France

The Galettes themselves take two different forms that I have seen - the first is made from two layers of puff pastry, somewhat like a pie, but not cooked in a tin with a filling of "frangipane" - a mixture made from almonds/almond paste and a very popular ingredient in many dessert recipes. 

These Galettes are made as a crown shaped Brioche decorated with Baker's sugar and Confit Fruits

The second, is a large crown shaped brioche, often sugar sprinkled and decorated with confit fruits.  Families in France celebrate this tradition with family and friends enjoying the fun of "who will be the King and Queen" for the day.  

Crowns are an important part of the celebrations of the Fete des Rois

During the Christmas seasons we've spent in Provence, we've enjoyed being a part of the celebrations at our neighbor's house.  We, along with other friends, gather at around 4pm for Galette and Vin Doux, a popular local sweet wine.  Usually our hostess has both types of Galettes, but most important no matter which type of galette is your favorite, is who will find the féve?  What is a féve?  A féve is actually a small type of bean - but most commonly used in the galette (it can be sometimes replaced by a small procelain Baby Jesus), it plays an important role in the day's festivities.  

The person who finds the féve in their piece of galette becomes the King and gets to choose the Queen or vice versa. Each galette, when purchased comes with two crowns and in our case, since our hostess had three galettes, we hobnobbed with quite a lot of Royalty at that party!

If you would like to celebrate along with our friends in France, here is a recipe for the Galette that you may wish to try.  Don't forget to place a small (dried) bean somewhere in the galette so you will be able to find the King or Queen of your party!

La Galette des Rois - made with Puff Pastry & Frangipane

• 2 sheets of ready-made puff pastry
• 2 rounded tbsp apricot jam
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 lightly beaten egg
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 2 tbsp cognac or dark rum 

1. Heat the oven to 400 deg.
2. Divide the ready-made puff pastry in half, roll out each piece and cut into a 10 inch round. Put one round on a baking sheet and spread with the apricot jam to within 1 inch of the edges. 
3. Frangipane - Beat together the softened butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg. Stir in the ground almonds and cognac or dark rum.  
4. Spoon the mixture over the jam, spreading it evenly. Brush the edges of the pastry with water, then cover with the second piece, pressing the edges to seal. Mark the top of the pastry from the center to the edges like the spokes of a wheel or in a zig zag pattern, then brush with beaten egg.
5. Bake for 25-30 mins until crisp and golden. Serve warm or cold.

                                               Bon Apetit and Bonne Fête!