Noël

In his ‘Memories’ Frédéric Mistral described the Christmas Eves of his childhood in the sentimental nostalgic tones that only come with time and distance. First the perfect Yule log had to be found. And off in search of this ‘bûche de Noël’ (which, to complicate matters, had to be made of fruitwood) trooped the whole family. Having found it, they carried it home and ceremoniously paraded around the kitchen three times in single file - Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, Mother, various and motley uncles, aunts and cousins, and little Frédéric bringing up the rear. Mistral’s father then threw a glass of sweet, home-made ‘vin cuit’ into the fire, followed by the Christmas log; with a cry of ‘Bûche de Noël: mets le feu!’, and the cheers of all the family, Christmas was welcomed to the house, and everyone sat down to eat.