Week 2 2023

 Hello!

In case you missed it, Friday 6 January was the last day of the Christmas season and traditionally the day Christmas decorations get taken down and packed away for next year.  The 12^th night is the day that the 3 wise men arrived in Bethlehem, taking gifts to the baby Jesus.

The French celebrate this day with a special cake called the ‘Galette des Rois’ (the King’s cake).   

Note the plate with numbers to ensure it's divided equally!

This frangipane filled cake is served up according to tradition on 6^th January.  A lucky charm – known as a fève (originally a bean, but now more often a little porcelain figure) is baked into the cake.  As story goes, the cake is divided into enough slices as people present, and one extra, for the first poor person that passes by.  The youngest person in the group decides who has which slice, and the person who finds the fève is crowned king or queen for the day.  When you buy a Galette des Rois it usually comes complete with a paper crown.

 

You can still find them in the shops and the bakeries, and each year more exotic flavours are added to the recipe, a hit this year was the chocolate chip brioche style galette!

 

Whatever you do this week in the Gironde and Dordogne regions, have a lovely time.

Best wishes,

Helen

notjustfotheholidays@orange.fr

 

Week 2 

 

Coming up...

And finally...

 

 

The Winter sales 2023 have been set by the préfecture for a period of 4 weeks starting on Wednesday 11th January at 8h00 until Tuesday 7th February.
During the sale period, shops are usually allowed to open on a couple of Sundays. 

So, now's the time to bag a bargain...