French people enjoy getting together with family or friends to celebrate Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve with a festive dinner called le réveillon. This is a time of year that involves a lot of eating and feasting! What is the French traditional holiday fare? Let's find out what these réveillons entail, and what French people do to recover from these eating marathons afterwards.

Le réveillon (from the word réveil, "waking") is a dinner party that takes place twice a year, on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Usually prepared at home, such meals require much thought and preparation, which is why most people choose to stick to traditional fare:

Pour réussir son réveillon il y a ceux qui misent sur la tradition...

To make one's Christmas Eve dinner a success, there are those who rely on tradition...

Captions 1-2, Réveillon de Noël Que mange-t-on lors de ce repas?

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In addition to the noun réveillon, there is even a special verb, réveillonner (to have a Christmas or New Year's Eve party). Even the lonely sailors in the video below like to réveillonner:

La solitude n'a pas empêché les marins de réveillonner.

Solitude hasn't kept the sailors from having a Christmas party.

Caption 8, Le Journal Les navigateurs du Vendée Globe - Part 3

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A réveillon usually starts with the traditional appetizer of huîtres (oysters, served raw with a squeeze of lemon):

Voilà avec une bûche [de Noël] à la fin, et en entrée des huîtres.

That's it, with a [Yule] log at the end, and oysters as appetizers.

Captions 4-5, Réveillon de Noël Que mange-t-on lors de ce repas?

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(Notice that une entrée is an appetizer in French, not a main course.)

Les huîtres may be followed by such traditional fare as foie gras (goose liver pâté) and/or crustacés ("crustaceans," as in a seafood platter):

Les grands classiques de cette fête, foie gras et crustacés

The great classics of this holiday, foie gras and crustaceans

Caption 2, TLT Toulouse Noël: Les fêtes approchent!

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Then comes the main course (le plat principal). The familiar dinde aux marrons (turkey with chestnut stuffing) is an all-time favorite, although some people might find it boring and crave a change:

La dinde aux marrons, ça me fatigue parce que tout le monde fait de la dinde de marron.

Turkey with chestnut stuffing, I am tired of it because everyone cooks turkey with chestnut stuffing.

Caption 4, TLT Toulouse Noël: Les fêtes approchent!

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Chapon farci (stuffed capon) is another classic main course in a réveillon:

On va avoir du chapon farci

We're going to have stuffed capon

Caption 3, Réveillon de Noël Que mange-t-on lors de ce repas?

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However, some people like to depart from tradition and add a modern twist:

On peut sortir des sentiers battus tout en conservant des produits traditionnels : chapon tikka masala, foie gras au samoussa ou vice versa.

We can get off the beaten track while keeping traditional products: capon tikka masala, foie gras samosa, or vice versa.

Captions 8-9, TLT Toulouse Noël: Les fêtes approchent!

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Those who feel a little ambitious might try un bœuf en croûte (crusted roast beef, or beef Wellington):

Ensuite en plat, un bœuf en croûte au foie gras

Then for the main dish, a crusted roast beef with foie gras

Caption 8, Réveillon de Noël Que mange-t-on lors de ce repas?

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Alternatively, one can always fall back on yet another holiday classic, boudin blanc (white sausage), which this butcher likes to showcase at his shop:

...les ingrédients classiques comme le boudin blanc sont mis à l'honneur.

...classic ingredients like white sausage are showcased.

Caption 19, Réveillon de Noël Que mange-t-on lors de ce repas?

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Finally, for dessert, there is the all-time favorite, la bûche de Noël (Yule log):

Voilà avec une bûche [de Noël] à la fin...

That's it, with a [Yule] log at the end...

Caption 4, Réveillon de Noël Que mange-t-on lors de ce repas?

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In addition to the delicious dishes mentioned earlier, French celebratory meals always include one or two cooked vegetables, a green salad, and a cheese platter. If this abundance of food seems too much for you, you are not alone… In the video below, Sophie and Patrice are starting to feel like une grosse dinde (a fat turkey) themselves! As they say, you are what you eat:

On est ce qu'on mange. Là je suis donc un gâteau, du vin... une grosse bûche... -Une grosse... grosse bûche... une dinde énorme... trois tonnes de saumon...

We are what we eat. So here I'm a cake, some wine... A fat Yule log... -A fat... fat Yule log... a huge turkey... three tons of salmon...

Captions 23-27, Sophie et Patrice Après le réveillon

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Moi, je suis du foie gras. Un gros foie gras. Quelle horreur. J'en mangerai plus.

Me, I'm foie gras. A big foie gras. How awful. I won't eat any more of it. 

Captions 28-31, Sophie et Patrice Après le réveillon

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After so much indulgence, French people tend to crave lighter, healthier food like une bonne soupe (a nice soup). People also like to pace themselves and try to eat healthy in between réveillons:

On essaye de manger un peu plus de légumes verts... bon des soupes et voilà.

We try to eat a few more green vegetables... well, soups, and that's it.

Caption 4, TV Vendée Fêtes de fin d’année : manger léger et équilibré

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If the mention of these delicious dishes whetted your appetite, feel free to browse through Yabla's Christmas and cooking videos. Stay tuned for a new culinary experience in a future lesson!

Bon appétit!

In our last lesson, we learned that penser à means “to think about” or "have in mind" and that penser de means "to think of" in the sense of giving an opinion.  We also learned that penser à + infinitive means “to consider doing,” while penser + infinitive emphasizes planning an action. In this lesson, we will discuss which pronouns replace the de and à in penser de/à and what happens when penser is followed by a relative clause (penser que).

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As you may know, à + a noun can be replaced by the pronoun y, and de + a noun by the pronoun en. (You can learn more about that here and here.) So, penser à + noun becomes y penser (to think about it), and penser de + noun becomes en penser (to think of it, to feel about it). Remember that the pronouns y and en are placed before the verb. 

Elisa is interested in what her mother pense de la techonologie (thinks of technology). She asks her:

Qu'est-ce que tu en penses ?

What do you think of that?

Caption 12, Elisa et sa maman La technologie

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In the video below, en refers to what people thought about the confinement protocols during the pandemic:  

Globalement, malgré ce que les gens peuvent en penser, les mesures de restriction sont plutôt respectées.

Overall, despite what some people may think of them, the restriction measures are rather well respected.

Captions 33-34, Lionel L Le déconfinement

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Now let's see some examples with y penser (to think about it). In the video below, the speaker asks her friend to consider hiring help, as she will no longer be available:

Ben essaye d'y penser.

Well, try to think about it.

Caption 73, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai escroqué mon assurance ! - Part 2

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The speaker could have said the same thing in a more succinct way:

Penses-y.

Think about it.

(Notice that in the imperative mood, prepositions are tacked onto the end of the verb with a hyphen.) 

Or, the speaker could have been even more succinct:

Réfléchis.

Think about it.

(Réfléchis-y is more correct, but the pronoun y is often dropped from it in casual conversation.)

Sometimes we're reluctant to think about certain situations. In his song "Pocahontas," Grand Corps Malade mentions how some parents don’t dare think about the prospect of their children flying the nest for the first time: 

Ils reviendront vider leur chambre, ça j'ose même pas y penser

They'll come back to empty their room, I don't even dare think about that

Caption 32, Grand Corps Malade Pocahontas

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Speaking of thinking about people, y and en are NOT the right pronouns to use when thinking about a person. Y and en can replace an object, a thought, an idea, an action, a place, a situation, etc., but never a person or living being. In the latter case, we simply keep the prepositions à and de and use the construction penser à/penser de + disjunctive pronoun, as in penser à eux (to think about them), just as we do in English. For example, we say:

Je pense à mes parents. Je pense à eux.

I think about my parents. I think about them.

The same rule applies with penser de, when giving an opinion about people:

Alors, qu'est-ce que les Québécois pensent de nous ?

So, what do the Québécois think of us?

Caption 42, Le Québec parle aux Français - Part 11

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We’re not quite done with penser! There's one more important thing to know that has to do not with pronouns, but with tenses. When you use the negative relative clause ne pas penser que (to not think that), you must conjugate the following verb in the subjunctive, since you're expressing doubt or skepticism. The speaker in this video doubts that the common quail is endangered:

Personnellement, je ne pense pas qu'elles soient menacées.

Personally, I do not think they are endangered.

Caption 31, Canal 32 Les secrets des cailles des blés

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However, in the affirmative (penser que), the verb is conjugated in the indicative. If the speaker did think they were endangered, he would have said:

Personnellement, je pense qu'elles sont menacées.

Personally, I think they are endangered.

The subjunctive mood is also required when you use penser que in a question:

Pensez-vous qu’il soit trop tard ?

Do you think it’s too late?

As you can see, there are many rules to consider when it comes to penser! We hope this lesson will help you y penser (think about them). Thank you for reading!

Penser (to think) is a handy verb to know when it comes to sharing your thoughts or opinions. It’s also a regular -er verb, which makes it easy to use. However, the tricky part is that it requires different prepositions depending on what type of thinking is involved. So when should you use penser à versus penser de, as both translate as “to think of” in English? And what happens when penser is followed by another infinitive?

Let’s start with the most common construction: penser à + noun (to think of/about), as in penser à quelque chose/à quelqu’un (to think of something/someone). Use this construction to describe what's on your mind, what your thoughts are turning to. The singer in the video below has only one thing on his mind: his beloved. Note the use of the disjunctive pronoun after the preposition à (of): 

Toutes les nuits je pense à toi

Every night I think of you

Caption 31, Alsace 20 Colonel Reyel en session live acoustique!

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Bear in mind that the preposition à takes on many forms—à, à la, aux, au—as it agrees with the noun it modifies. With feminine singular nouns, it’s quite straightforward; we simply say à la. In the example below, Caroline can’t stop penser à la cigarette (thinking about the cigarette) that she can’t have: 

Puis, c'est vrai que parfois je suis irritable, parce que justement je suis en train de penser à la cigarette que je ne peux pas prendre

Then, it's true that sometimes I'm irritable, because, precisely, I'm thinking about the cigarette that I can't have

Captions 85-87, Amal et Caroline La cigarette

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Remember to make the necessary changes to à before masculine nouns, plural and singular: à + le becomes au, and à + les becomes aux.

Je pense aux Québécois... ils doivent en avoir ras le bol et ras la casquette

I think of the Quebecois... they must have a bowlful, and up to the hat [be fed up and have had it up to here]

Caption 12, Le Québec parle aux Français - Part 1

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Now that we have explored penser à, which is reserved for expressing what’s on your mind, what you're thinking about, let’s focus on penser de. Why switch to de? Because penser requires the preposition de to express an opinion. This construction usually comes in the form of a question, as it involves asking someone’s view of things. In the video below, a French person wonders what French Canadians think of his fellow countrymen:

Et puis, j'étais un petit peu stressé à l'idée de... savoir: qu'est-ce qu'ils pensent de nous ?

And then, I was a little bit stressed at the idea of... finding out, what do they think of us?

Caption 11, Le Québec parle aux Français - Part 1

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You seldom come across penser de in a declarative sentence, but it’s possible. An answer to the question mentioned in the example above might look something like this:

Vous me demandez ce que je pense des Québécois. Je ne sais pas ce que je pense de ces gens.

You’re asking what I think of Quebecois. I don’t know what I think of these people.

So far, we’ve focused on the construction penser + preposition + noun and learned that penser is followed by à to describe what you're thinking about and by de to express an opinion. Similar rules apply with infinitive verbs. Penser à + infinitive means to “consider,” “to have in mind,” or “to remember." In this trailer for La Belle et la Bête, the Beast is hoping to escape, and is warned about entertaining such a thought:

Ne pense même pas à t'échapper.

Don't even think of escaping.

Caption 27, Bande-annonce La Belle et la Bête

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Penser à + infinitive is also good to use when toying with ideas and considering possibilities. The cartoonists in this video explain how they first thought of drawing Gauls:

Nous devions faire une histoire pour le journal que nous venions de créer, et nous avons pensé à faire des Gaulois, très simplement.

We had to make a story for the publication that we had just created, and we thought of doing Gauls, very simply.

Captions 8-10, Uderzo et Goscinny 1968

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In addition, you can use penser à as an alternative to se rappeler de, “to remember” to do something or "to remind" someone to do something:

Tu devrais penser à le faire chaque fois que tu manges des choses sucrées.

You should remember to do it every time you eat something sweet.

Caption 7, Il était une fois: la vie 14. La bouche et les dents - Part 6

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Penser de + infinitive is used in the same way as with a noun: to express an opinion, or more frequently, to ask someone their opinion about doing something.

Qu'est-ce que tu penses d'aller au ciné ce soir ?

What do you think/How do you feel about going to the movies tonight?

On the other hand, the construction penser + infinitive, with no preposition in between the verbs, expresses what you’re thinking of doing, your intentions, plans, or hopes. It usually indicates a firmer course of action rather than a passing thought. In the following video, penser is translated as “hope to,” as the sense of hope is strongly implied:

...et pour lesquelles nous pensons pouvoir réaliser des offres intéressantes et compétitives.

...and to whom we hope to offer interesting and competitive prices.

Caption 16, Le Journal Opérateurs virtuels de portables

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Penser + indicative indicates an intention, however uncertain it might be. Discussing the presidential elections, Edmée and Fanny mention who they might vote for, although they have not quite decided yet:

Je pense potentiellement voter Macron, mais c'est pas sûr.

I'm thinking of potentially voting for Macron, but it's not certain.

Captions 17-18, Edmée et Fanny Les présidentielles à 20 ans

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In this example, penser + indicative conveys a stronger intention, as the speaker had actually planned to come earlier but was held up at work:

Je suis désolé. Là, je pensais venir plus tôt, mais c'était de la folie au boulot aujourd'hui.

I'm sorry. I was thinking of coming here earlier, but it was crazy at work today.

Captions 42-43, Le Jour où tout a basculé J'ai escroqué mon assurance ! - Part 2

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You can also use penser + infinitive to reflect on and evaluate past actions, as in penser avoir fait (thinking that [I] have done) This construction is equivalent to penser que (to think that), which is the way it usually translates in English anyway:

Je pense toujours les avoir bien éduqués.

I still think I've raised them well.

Caption 19, Alain Etoundi Allez tous vous faire enfilmer! - Part 2

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Alternatively, the speaker could have said:

Je pense que je les ai toujours bien éduqués.

I still think I've raised them well.

In conclusion, there is a lot to think about in this lesson, so here is a summary for you:

Penser à + noun: to have in mind, to think about

Penser de + noun: to think of (expressing an opinion)

Penser à + infinitive: to consider, to have in mind, to remember doing something

Penser de + infinitive: to think of/feel about doing something (expressing an opinion)

Penser + infinitive: to hope to, to plan, to intend

But there's even more à penser (to think about) than that, so stay tuned for the second part of this lesson. In the meantime, pensez à regarder beaucoup de vidéos sur Yabla (remember to watch many Yabla videos)!