My France at

My France at Christmas The Good Life France works closely with Atout France which promotes France as a tourist destination to international markets. We asked their London based UK press team (from left to right above): Marine, Fran, Anne, Rachel and Tiphaine to share what they love about France at Christmas time, from a personal perspective. As this Christmas is like no other, spreading a little Christmas cheer is essential. We hope that their wonderful memories and sharing of traditions held dear at this time of the year will make you smile. And maybe inspire you to make Rachel's favourite cocktail or some vin chaud, mulled wine (it seems they all love that) or even start your own Santon collection. Here's a recipe for authentic French vin chaud We also hope it will inspire you to visit France next year when hopefully travel will be allowed and we can all enjoy our favourite country. Discover France at: uk.france.fr/en

Marine One of my dearest memories of Christmas in France is the nativity scene my aunt Patricia creates every year in her home, next to the large tree, with terracotta and clay figurines produced in Provence. These traditional figurines are called ‘santons’ (‘santoun’ in Provencal), each one unique and hand-crafted, and part of the Christmas excitement is always to spot which new characters or scenes my aunt has added to the collection. She makes it a yearly tradition to visit the workshop of well-known local santonnier Fouque in Aix-en-Provence (also sometimes Escoffier) to create the most beautiful setting for our family Christmas dinners - and a real competition with the local church! Building the collection has been an ongoing project since I was a little girl… and next on her list is to find a camel.