Joyeux Noël!

Christmas (Noël) is coming very soon! Alors, Joyeux Noël!

To know more about Christmas in France, click here to view my previous post about it.

le calendrier de l'Avent - the Advent calendar

Children are looking forward to Christmas (Noël)! In France too, they do the countdown (le compte à rebours) with the Advent calendar (le calendrier de l'Avent).

In the Christian religion, Advent is the period when people get ready for the arrival of Christ, that is his birth.

The Advent calendar tradition started in Germany in the 19th century (19ème siècle). The first calendar with the chocolates dated back to 1958. The calendar starts on December 1st (le premier décembre) and ends on December 24th (le 24 décembre).

Briller par son absence

That was a long pause! I'm back after a long absence. "Je suis de retour après une longue absence." 

So what a good opportunity to learn a new expression today: "Briller par son absence". That's a rather ironic expression! Actually, it means "to get noticed for being absent". So the verb "briller" doesn't mean "to shine" here but rather "to excel".