482
NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. vi. DKC. 21, 1912.
tourists or with staid French people who
are, perhaps, thinking of other " reveillons "
that they spent at home. At every table
the traditional " buche " is served. This
cake is made to imitate a log of wood, and
the chefs take a pride in making the imita-
tion as lifelike as possible. The Yule log
is covered with snow, through which peep
clumps of moss that cling to it. To-night
one may see the quintessence of cafe life,
with all its outward picturesqueness and
inward banality.
This is the only aspect of the " reveillon " that the ordinary tourist can hope to see. It is not surprising that he should imagine that Christmas is not a home festival. I have often heard the astounding statement that all Parisians spend the early hours of Christmas in a cafe. But, while Montmartre is enjoying itself after the fashion of Mont- martre, a less boisterous but happier festival is taking place behind the closely drawn blinds of every French home.
Last Christmas I was invited to " re- veillonrer " with a family that clings to old ideals and old traditions. We heard Mass at the side -chapel in St. Sulpice, to which each of them has gone every Christmas Eve since the day of their first communion ; for, after this event, every child is considered old enough to stay up for Midnight Mass, and to share in the subsequent banquet. Then we walked back to the old home. Out of the twenty or so present I was the only stranger, and had been invited on account of a rela- tive who is a lifelong friend of the family. For at Christmas and New Year the French are more loath to admit outsiders into their home than at any other time.
We sat down to a cold supper of several courses, which ended with the regulation " buche " and chocolates. The laughing, merry pariy did not break up till half- past three. Then we walked back through the streets where other merrymakers were also wending their way homeward.
After such a night even the children stay late in bed on Christmas morning. In the afternoon a solemn service of vespers is celebrated in all the churches. The " suisses, : ' or vergers, wear a gorgeous uniform that is reserved for great fetes ; the altar once more blazes with lights, which throw into relief the rich vestments of the priests and the fresh-faced acolytes, clothed in scarlet and in white. Beside one of the side altars is the great Christmas treat which the Church reserves for the people. All the worshippers throng to see the " creche," a wax-and-cardboard repre-
sentation on a small scale of the Nativity.
This is just one little survival of the miracle-
plays and the other shows which the Church
provided centuries ago for the edification
and amusement of her children. Nowadays
in France the children and here all are
children at heart till the last day of their
lives are stirred at this naive spectacle
by an emotion which few of them feel before
the Holy Families in the Louvre. Boys and
girls gaze with rapt wonder at the divine
Child ; middle-aged women murmur to
one another with tears in their eyes,
" Comme'il est beau ! Ah ! que c'est joli ! "
After this, though the day is not yet done,
the festive part of Christmas is over. They
think once more of to-morrow's work and
of the approaching New Year.
For New Year's Day is, after all, the real French festival, though to the foreign on- looker it presents few picturesque features. Family parties gather together at lunch and at dinner, duty calls are paid, and the grown- ups exchange " etrennes," or New Year gifts. Grandparents, aunts, and uncles must be visited by all their younger relations. The father and mother of a growing family pack themselves and their children into a cab as soon as dejeuner is over, and go off to pay a round of visits till dinner-time. At every house the children are regaled with " dragees " and chocolates. It is small wonder if the 2nd of January is some- times a painful day for youngsters to look back on.
Officials of all grades are bound by eti- quette to visit their chiefs on this day. So M. Fallieres holds a reception at the Elysee, which is attended by the heads of the Army and of every State department. And all the way down the official hierarchy the same thing goes on. Many Frenchmen have cause to rejoice that this day comes but once a year. Bachelors pay duty calls on the hostesses who have entertained them, and also send them boxes of chocolates, according to the old French custom. In fact, every one sends chocolates and gets them in return. For weeks after the New Year you cannot enter a French house without being asked to have some of the " chocolats du Nouvel An." During the month of January you are bound to call on all the friends with whom you are not suffi- ciently intimate to visit them on New Year's Day. So, on the whole, this feast brings a round of tiresome social obligations rather than any real pleasure.
GERTRUDE LUCIE BURKE.
Paris.
