Write to Christmas Santa (Père Noël) and Play Games
Sixty secretaries at the French post office, La Poste, are waiting for your letters to Santa. The Secrétariat du Père Noël office opens thousands of letters a year. The secretaries in Libourne (in the Gironde) respond to the writers with a special holiday edition La Poste-designed card. In 1962, its first year, the office received 5,000 cards. By 2014, they received over 1.2 million letters to Père Noël (Santa Claus). Père Noël’s team can also be found on Facebook.
What’s on the Website
Plunge right into learning French from the first page of La Poste‘s site. Below are some translations so you can play the games, send cards, write to Père Noël, invite a friend (Inviter un ami), or go straight to the bonus section.
The home page
Welcome! Would you like to come along with me on some new adventures? (Bienvenue! Tu m’accompagnes dans mes nouvelles aventures?)
Click on the igloo to continue (Clique sur l’IGLOO pour continuer)
For those who read French, the Christmas balls on the left side of the page link to information on the future of forests, the deep sea, city, or space. Each of these topics is also one of the game topics.
Skip the introduction (Passer l’animation)
Back to the homepage (Accueil)
Write to Santa
Send a letter to Saint Nicolas (J’écris au Père Noël)
Handwritten:
For hand-written letters (not email) write “Père Noël”on the envelope. Your return address should include clearly written your first and last name, and your complete address (outside France, include the country name)
Santa’s secretaries have their pens filled and ready until December 23. Be sure to post your letters if in France before December 22. Outside France, plan on at least eight days for the delivery of your letter to Santa and eight days for the return. This year Santa’s office opened November 17. Get ready for next year!
Electronically:
When the form appears:
Your age (Ton âge) – required
Your first name (Ton prénom) – required
Your last name (Ton nom) – required
Apartment number (No. d’appartement)
Building (Immeuble)
Street number and name (No. de voie et voie) – required
Post Office Box number
Zip code (Code postal) – required
City (Ville) – required
Country (Pays) – required
Email (Courriel)
Games to play online directly on the site.
Click on one of the visits The forests (Les Forêts), Bonus, The city (La Ville), The galaxies (Les Galaxies), The Deep Sea (Les Fonds Marins)
Les Forêts: Push the drop of sap to the top of the tree. You have to get through three labyrinths
La Ville: Create you Christmas party. Choose one of the three scenes. Add your characters: Friends (Amis), Animals (Animaux) or Objects (Objets)
On the top right choose Change your scene (Je change mon décor), Change something (Je supprime un élément), Accept (Je valide mon image)
Next page: Print your image (J’imprime mon image) or Send your image (J’envoi mon image)
Les Galaxies: Discover 3 designs in the stars (Découvre 3 dessins dans les étoiles) – click on a number to (games of connect the dots)
Instruction 1: “Find (click on) the shiniest star it will guide you”
Choose a new number or
print (j’imprime mon image) or send (j’envoie mon image)
Instruction 2: “Find (click on) the shiniest planet”
Instruction 3: “Connect all the dots for the design”
You will receive the Hourrah! message.
Les Fonds Marins:
Take photos of the deep sea and put together your photo page. Happy photo hunting!
Your photo page is full … You can make changes (Ta page d’images est pleine … Tu peux la transformer).
Click anywhere on the screen
Change the photos (Je change mes photos) or check your photos (Je valide mes photos) or go back (retour)
Send (J’envoie ma page)
Print (J’imprime ma page)
You can move your photos around, insert the Christmas icons or words “Joyeux Noël” on to the page
Email sent (Envoi effectué)
You will receive a link to view the card (I keep receiving a broken link and no image)
Bonus:
Choose a screen background (Choisis ton fond d’écran)
Send a card (Envoie ta carte)
Print out the playing cards (jeu de cartes) follows the rules of Happy Families (7 familles)
Print out Christmas tree decorations – click on the decorations you wish (Clique sur les décorations que tu veux imprimer)
Enjoy! Happy Holidays!
