Welcome Claire Marie!
Today, I’m welcoming former guest Claire Marie back to the podcast. Claire Marie is raising 3 boys with her Irish husband in Ireland.
However, Claire Marie is French and today she’s sharing her very special memories of celebrating Christmases in the French Countryside as a very large, very Catholic, and not very wealthy family of 10.
In addition to their private Christmas traditions, Claire Marie shares about the massive Christmas dinners in her grandmother’s home, where she would visit with over 100 cousins – and where she watched her grandmother make a very special chocolate chestnut cake. This is an utterly delightful and charming episode full of smiles and great memories and some wisdom as well.
Thanks for tuning in and Merry Christmas - Joyeux Noël!
Highlights
Long dark days and the magic of Christmas
WHY? No Santa (Le Père Noël, in French) and very few presents
Christmas in a large Catholic family
Midnight mass
Feasts! Christmas Eve Dinner, the traditional Christmas meal, and different desserts
Shoes under the Christmas tree
Celebrating with over 100 first cousins!
Peeling chestnuts at her grandmother's beautiful wooden dining table for Chocolate Chestnut Cake
Christmas in French households vs. Irish households (where Claire is raising her family)
Provence – the Christmas town scene with Santons characters
Claire’s approach to the Advent calendar
Christmas Day: “It’s the contrary of running everywhere and doing all the things”
Listen to Claire Now
Listen to Claire Marie's Original Episode:
26 Tales in the French Countryside
Claire Marie's Storied Recipe
https://thestoriedrecipe.com/russeroles-bugnes-lyonnaises
Related Episodes
Related Recipes
Partial Transcript
Becky
So if people have listened to your original episode, which I’m going to link to in the show notes, in case they haven’t because it’s delightful, it’s delightful.
Claire Marie
Thanks in a while.
Becky
Uhm, remind everyone what region of France you grew up in?.
Claire Marie
So I moved a lot, but I always say I from the Loire Valley, so it’s not necessarily the place most people know, like the South of France, but it’s definitely a place people should know about. It’s also the Valley of the Kings and every time I go back there’s more to see that I haven’t had time to see. It so very very French. Like in really, the sense of France is there. And so that’s just the Loire Valley. It’s kind of in the middle... France is is big but not as big as the US, but big enough for a European country. And so yeah, people don’t necessarily know where.
Becky
It is, and it’s one of the most picturesque, picturesque parts of France?
Claire Marie
Oh yes. Yeah, and it has the perfect climate or weather. And yeah, like it’s cold in the winter, but it’s warm in the summer and you always have like a nice fresh air. It’s really really nice and I do love going back every summer.
Becky
So, paint us a picture. You said the weather was cold - it would be maybe snow? Paint us a picture of what it was like in December or at Christmas time in the Loire Valley or the Valley of the Kings?
Claire Marie
Huh, uhm, so it can go down like it’s very cold. It is, I guess, all a matter of in relation to other countries, but like you definitely definitely have your gloves on and hats on and you would be hoping for the snow because we’re quite far, we are very far from the mountains, so snow is never given and it would be like a rare treat if it snows right around Christmas. Like you, you know, you’d have probably couple of days of snow, but it could be anytime during the winter so I don’t actually remember a white Christmas.
Becky
Never a white Christmas.
Claire Marie
I don’t think we ever actually had a timely snow for Christmas, but it’s definitely very, very cold. I especially remember going to school freezing in...
