Christmas in the sun: these French people who swap the turkey for a couscous in Marrakech

For this family mother living in Alsace, the end-of-year holidays have long been synonymous with logistical chores and latent tensions, reports the Saône-et-Loire newspaper. Living far from her loved ones, family gatherings imposed a delicate cohabitation where everyone "walks on eggshells" to avoid conflicts. Tired of what she describes as "artificial hubbub" and the frantic race for gifts, Céline found the ideal solution to decline invitations without offending anyone: to go on a trip.

This avoidance strategy first led the family to Paris in 2012, then to Scotland four years later, where they savored the pleasure of taking a plane while others were busy in the kitchen. But it was last year, in 2024, that the change of scenery reached its peak. After a difficult period marked by the father’s illness, the clan felt a vital need for light and set their sights on the Kingdom.

The Moroccan experience swept away all the codes of the traditional Christmas. On December 25th, the family replaced the foie gras and turkey with a couscous enjoyed on the terrace, in t-shirts and shorts, amidst the palm trees of the ochre city. Far from the heaviness of the endless meals, they took advantage of the day after the holiday to treat themselves to a quad ride in the desert. Enchanted by this impression of having "lived two summers in one year", Céline felt no lack of traditions and is already considering her future New Year’s Eves with her feet in the water, perhaps in the Maldives or Reunion.