Ange and Christmas traditions at Les Desjardins

I think the traditions that have had the greatest impact on my childhood are those of the festive season! The smell of comforting meals cooked with love by my grandmother, the appropriate music that sets the tone for the festivities, my fascination with every little detail of the tree ornaments, the relaxed atmosphere of being together as a family “which only happens once a year hey! “(well, okay, not that much).

At a time when we may wonder about the meaning of this celebration, which has changed a great deal since the Christmases of our grandparents, I find it very interesting to immerse the family in the Christmas customs of yesteryear. And that’s exactly what the Maison Alphonse-Desjardins offers, in the opulence of this magnificent neo-Gothic building that’s over a hundred years old.

On the agenda, a host of discoveries ranging from the transition from the wooden log to the pastry log at the centre of the table, the legends of what wise children found (or didn’t!) in their Christmas stockings, and the origins of the ‘indoor’ Christmas tree and the greetings card.

A number of objects from the period catch the eye and pique the curiosity, some being precursors of technologies we use today. We also got to try out the forerunner of the virtual reality helmet, a type of 3D glasses that had the children laughing!

To enhance the tour, youngsters are invited to take part in a hunt for naughty elves hidden throughout the house. And a plum pudding tasting confirmed to my children that they preferred their grandparents’ logs, doughnuts and sucre à la crème!