Celebrating Christmas in Provence
In many ways the Christmas holidays in Provence are not much different than those elsewhere. Towns and villages are decorated with lights and evergreens, shops do a brisk business with the sales of Christmas decorations, toys, perfumes, electronic gadgets and other thoughtful gifts. Mailboxes are stuffed with catalogs from supermarkets, encouraging people to add foie gras, langoustine, oysters or champagne to the holiday dinner tables. But there are details in the celebration that are unique to Provence.
The season truly starts on December 4th, Sainte-Barbe saints day, when seeds of wheat or lentils are sown on cotton wool, plenished with water. Tradition says that when the seeds show a healthy growth by Christmas, the new year will be prosperous. If, on the other hand, they remain lifeless, well... you might as well wait another year for good fortune.
More important than a Christmas tree in a Provençal home is the crib (crèche) populated with santons (little saints in Provençal). These are small figurines made out of clay, painted, and dressed in period clothes. They represent everyday people, such as the baker, the miller, the mayor, even a gendarme, and take their place around Joseph, Maria and the baby Jesus. This custom stems from the French Revolution when churches were closed. No longer able to admire the cribs in church, the people in Provence built them in their homes.
A Marseille artisan, Jean-Louis Lagnal, created the santons to add an everyday aspect of the life in the crib, much in the spirit of the Revolution. The figurines became an instant success, so much so that already in 1794 the first santon fair in Marseille came into being, a fair that exists until today! The santons vary in sizes, from 6 to 30 centimetres high, depending on what you envisage for your ultimate crib. Families start out with a few figures and add through the years. A "mature" crib may eventually take up a significant part of your living room.
Food of course plays a very important role in the celebration. The Christmas meal, enjoyed in the afternoon is festive and more and more copious. But the meal on Christmas Eve, the Gros Souper, is special to Provence. It is usually taken after "midnight" mass (today's midnight is more of a 9 or 10 pm variety). The "gros" (French for fat) should be taken lightheartedly. It's a supper without meat, consisting of seven dishes, often anchoïade, brandade de morue or spinach with mussels. All is followed by the 13 desserts (treize desserts), symbolic in number for the Last Supper - Jesus and the 12 apostles. The desserts can vary, but always consist of fruits - dried and fresh - and nuts. The centre of the table is the wheat of Sainte-Barbe, hopefully in a healthy condition. The home crèche is equally the focus, because on this eve the baby Jesus is added to the crib.
By contrast to Christmas, the New Year's Eve celebrations (le Réveillon Saint-Sylvestre) are an away-from-home affair, as in most of France. With friends, many Provençals sign up for elaborate, and expensive, dinners in restaurants. With seven-course meals, master-of-ceremonies, music and dancing, and eventually champagne, they wait for the new year. We're not sure whether Sainte-Barbe's wheat finds a center in all this.
The final important date is January 6th, Twelfth Night, when the three magi are added to the crib and children receive gifts. That day, la galette des Rois, an almond cake, is the traditional delicacy. In some towns in Provence, Twelfth Night it is more elaborate. In Aix-en-Provence, for example, the cathedral of Saint Saveur opens its doors for a festive procession of the three kings towards the crib. Organ and children's choir celebrate with the March of the Kings (Marcho di Rei in Provençal).
And finally, everyone waits for the days to lengthen, the mimosa to blossom and other signs of a new year and new life.
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