It appears that I've inadvertently deleted my post about Christmas in Toulouse. So, I'll try to recapture my thoughts. I've been asked by a friend if they "do" Christmas in France like we do back in the states. The answer is yes and no. Yes there are decorations though not as many (though I'm told that they do more of that in the north of France). Yes they have Père Noël (Santa Claus) but I haven't observed him to be as rotund as back home and he leaves small gifts of fruits and candies. Yes, the retail stores are decorated and busy selling their wares, though I don't get the impression that the French go to the same excess that the states do. Every French family has a creche as the focal point of their decorations.
The marron (chestnut) vendors have set up shop in the local parks and squares. Now maybe you've experienced those before but since I never had, I was curious about those "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. . ." as the song goes. One night earlier in December, we walked around town admiring the decorations and bought a bag and sat at an outside cafe enjoying the evening. They kind of reminded me of the texture of a filbert but had an almost sweet flavor. I understand the French use chestnuts quite a lot in baking. One of my friends from French language class took an afternoon cooking class and they made several different things with chestnuts.
Toulouse has its own Christmas markets with over 120 little chalets of vendors but after Strasbourg, it seems rather small. But the capital square looks very festive with the market. My favorite park, Place Wilson has the decorated tree and it's great. The tree is actually growing in the park. That's the chestnut vendor in front of the tree.
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