The Christmas Fair Season .... Alsace in Provence

The end of November marks the beginning of the season for the Marché de Noel. It seems that every city, town, village, hamlet, school and vineyard has its own. They range from the very small and amateur, as in our local one.......

..... to the large, elaborate and more expensive, as in Aix-en-Provence with its wooden chalets....

One of the more extraordinary ones is that held every year in Sénas. What makes it different is that it combines stands from local organizations with a significant number of stands from Alsace, some six hundred kilometers away. There was even a pizza van that had made the journey. There are all the trappings of Alsace - sauerkraut, sausage, beer, gewürztraminer and traditional costumes.

At the Christmas Fairs there are all sorts of potential holiday gifts. Above all there are usually one or more sellers of Provencal Santons. These are little figures that are made in clay, baked and then painted in bright colours. They became widespread after the French revolution and the usual Christmas cribs held in the churches were suppressed. The Provençaux made their own cribs to have in their homes. Little by little these expanded beyond being the traditional Xmas characters and started including figures of all the inhabitants of the village, often apparently, recognizable!