Advent Memories – A French Christmas

Ever since I spent a Christmas in France while on my mission, certain French traditions and music have been part of my annual holiday experience.  On this last Sunday of Advent, I thought I’d share a few memories from that special Christmas, along with some of the traditions and music that have enriched my appreciation of Noël.

I was in a provincial town that December as the holidays approached.  I wasn’t really homesick at all, but I did miss Christmas music. I finally decided I just had to go out and buy a cassette or two of Christmas music that my comp and I could listen to on our el-cheapo tape player in our apartment.  Of course, there were no Bing Crosby tapes or anything else I would have been accustomed to in the U.S.  But I was pleased when I found a tape by a singer that I had recently seen on French television while at an investigator’s apartment:  Nana Mouskouri.  She was a Greek singer who had recorded music in just about every one of the European languages, including French.  I had never heard of her before, but I learned that she was something of a superstar in Europe at that time.

One of the songs she had recorded on my cassette was Petit Papa Noël – the first time I had ever heard this well-known French children’s song that is sort of the equivalent of our Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Here Comes Santa Claus.  (In France, Santa Claus is called Père Noël, or Father Christmas.  For children, he becomes Petit Papa Noël.  He is pictured in the above photograph, taken on my mission, distributing gifts to children.)  One of the things that is charming about this song is that it is written as a prayer by little children who, on a snowy Christmas Eve before turning in for the night, offer one last petition to Father Christmas to not forget their little house.  They acknowledge their foibles, but hope he with forgive them.

Petit Papa Noël has been recorded by many other artists, most notably by Josh Groban on his recent Christmas CD.  But because I first heard this song as sung by Nana Mouskouri (and in honor of my new friend who has a Greek connection), I am including below a video of Nana singing this classic French Christmas song  (the clunky glasses, by the way, are her trademark):

About a week before Christmas, I was transferred to an area near Paris – close enough to enjoy the amenities of the City of Light.  A day or two after I arrived, my comp took me to see the sights and sounds of the city at Christmastime.  We walked by Galeries Lafayette – Paris’ answer to London’s Harrods – and a sight very similar to this one greeted us:

Near there, for the first time in my life, I saw chestnuts being roasted.  I had always had such a romantic notion of this due to the American Christmas song, but frankly, I could hardly stand the smell!

We then went to the Champs-Elysées, where we were greeted with a sight very similar to this one near the Arc de Triomphe:

Later, on Christmas Eve, our ward arranged for us to pass the evening with one family, then be invited to another members’ home the following day for Christmas dinner.  Both were memorable occasions.

In the years that have passed since my mission, I have cherished the opportunity which I had to imbibe a bit of the French culture, particularly during that special Christmas season.  This experience was subsequently enlarged as other people close to me forged additional ties to France and the French culture.  My sister, who lived in French-speaking Switzerland for a dozen years or so, started annually sending me another addition to a growing collection of Santons – hand-made crèche figurines popular in Provence that represent not only the traditional manger scene, but also all the various artisans of the typical Provençal village.  The ones she purchased for me look very much like these:

Other people in my circle, both old and new, have served in the Geneva Switzerland Mission and forged ties to the region of the French Alps and to eastern France and to French-speaking Switzerland.  In honor of these persons, I was going to close this post with a slide show I prepared to accompany Placide Cappeau’s beautiful poem set to music, Minuit Chrétiens (O Holy Night), performed by L’Accroche-Coeur Vocal Ensemble of Fribourg, Switzerland. 

Due to technical difficulties with Blogger.com, however, I was unable to post this.  In its place, I am highlighting yet another of my French connections, this to French-speaking Canada.  Below is a video of a more modern rendition of Minuit Chrétiens by French-Canadian chanteuse, Marie-Élaine Thibert: