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  • Home
  • Countries

    Top Destinations:

    Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Panama
    • Belize
    • Colombia
    • Cyprus
    • Mexico
    • France
    • Montenegro
    • Browse All Countries

    Best For:

    • The Best Places To Retire
    • Health Care Abroad
    • Cost Of Living
    • Investing in Real Estate
    • Establishing Residency
    • Gun Laws In The World
    • English-Speaking Countries
    • Safest Places For Retirement
    • Best Places In Latin America
  • Budgets

    How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

    The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

    Super Cheap

    • Chitré, Panama
    • Santa Marta, Colombia
    • Phuket, Thailand
    • Dumaguete, The Philippines

    Cheap

    • Medellin, Colombia
    • Boquete, Panama
    • Kyrenia, Cyprus
    • Hua Hin, Thailand
    • The Algarve, Portugal

    Affordable

    • Valencia, Spain
    • Cascais, Portugal
    • Las Terrenas, The DR
    • Pisa, Italy
    • La Rochelle, France
    • Mazatlán, Mexico

    Luxury

    • Ambergris Caye, Belize
    • Kotor, Montenegro
    • The Panama City Beaches
    • Paris, France
  • Resources

    Global Living

    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore & Diversification

    Making Money

    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing

    Follow Us:

    • Meet Our Experts
  • Real Estate

    Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

    • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

    Explore Our Latest Posts

    • Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

    Go To The Overseas Property Alert Site

    • How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams
  • Conferences

    Upcoming Events

    • Explore Our Events Site

    Live and Invest In Spain Conference

    Offshore Wealth Summit

    Argentina Workshop

    VALENCIA, SPAIN

    Sep. 17-19, 2025

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

    Oct. 15-17, 2025

    VIRTUAL

    Nov. 13, 2025

    Learn More About This Event
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
    Learn More About This Event
    PRE-REGISTER
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    Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
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    From Outside North America:
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    Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

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    • Titles on living and investing around the world
    • Explore Our Store
    Your passport to a life well-lived abroad

    Services

    overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
    The Simon Letter Wealth Protection Insights
    Global Property Advisor Global Investment Opportunities

    Our Customer Service team is here to assist with any questions or concerns CustomerService@LiveandInvestOverseas.com

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Home In Focus: Europe

Raw Oysters, King Cake, And Burning Desires

by Kat Kalashian
Dec 31, 2024
in In Focus: Europe
0 0
Pont Alexandre III in Paris, France

AdobeStock/eyetronic

I’m about to ring in my seventh year as a resident in France, and I’ve so far celebrated in a variety of ways, ranging from cliché American, to cliché tourist, to cliché French.

I blame the “American year” on my ninth month of pregnancy, when I wasn’t motivated to be anywhere but my bed or with anyone other than my husband and pets. That year I was in bed at midnight watching fireworks on TV, as is so often depicted of tired parents in American movies.

To really celebrate, though, there are a few ways to go about it in Paris…

If you’re celebrating like a tourist, you’ll stumble across Paris all night, after a sumptuous réveillon dinner, bottle of champagne in hand, counting down to the fireworks amidst thousands of foreigners on the Champs Elysées…

If you’re going local, you’re more likely to be shucking oysters, binging on foie gras, and cutting King Cake with a few dozen friends or acquaintances at a house party, dancing the night away dressed to the nines (or possibly in costume) and, frankly, forgetting to watch for midnight, as the French don’t typically do a countdown…

In France, most of the traditions are much like they are back home in that respect… friends, parties, and fireworks. The raw oyster and liver dinner is the only French twist to speak of.

Ah, and the kissing. You might go for a romantic kiss, which happens under mistletoe more on New Year’s than at Christmas here, but, if not, you’re sure to be kissed a few dozen times anyway, as the French love to share les bises, cheek kisses, with just about everyone they encounter after midnight.

How else should you celebrate the New Year in Europe if you want to fit in?

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In Spain…

Be sure to wear a new pair of undies, either red for romance or yellow for money… choose wisely.

In Barcelona, top your new underpants with a fun costume; anywhere else, have a mask, party hat, and noisemaker.

Write out your burning desires on a scrap of paper, then set it alight to ensure they come true.

And as the clock tolls midnight, eat a grape for each peal of the bell—skin and seeds included. If you can’t finish before the strikes have ended, bad luck will haunt your year, so eat quickly. As everyone in the country struggles to swallow their mouthful of grapes at midnight, kissing takes a backseat.

As if that weren’t enough of a choking hazard, grapes are chased by a glass of sparkling wine in which you should have dropped a piece of gold, a ring, a coin, or whatever you’ve got handy.

Start the new year on the right foot (literally) by taking your first step of the 1st with the right, and nurse your hangover with a lentil soup, each bean representing a coin, bringing you wealth for the new year.

In Portugal…

As in Spain, don a brand-spanking new pair of skivvies that match the color to your aspirations for the year ahead. You have more choices here than in Spain: blue for luck, red for romance, brown for career, yellow for money, green for health, or white for peace.

Best to have a new outfit, too, but nothing too tight and nothing with holes or rips.

Make sure your last meal of the year isn’t chicken, which signifies happiness flying away. But go for the chocolate dessert, which promises riches to come.

Much like in Spain, grapes are eaten at midnight, but, here, the grapes are dried. When you buy your raisins start thinking ahead, as you’ll need to make a wish as you eat one for each chime of the clock.

If you’re really hoping for prosperity, keep some cash in hand at midnight. To double down on the financial superstition, jump onto a chair and hop on your right foot as you clutch your cash, or put it in your right shoe and then use it for your first purchase of the new year… or maybe throw it toward the center of your home after midnight.

Then bang some metal kitchenware together and make as much of a racket as you can, warding off evil for the year to come.

Finally, turn on all your lights, open all your doors, go outside, and come back in on your right foot.

On the 1st, take a dip in the ocean.

In Greece…

In preparation, deck the house out in bay leaves and pomegranates, paying special attention to doorways. When you get back from mass on the 1st, accompany them with onions.

Spray and be sprayed with holy water on New Year’s Eve to repel evil for the year to come. Try rolling a wheel of bread down your hallway, if it lands face up, good luck is in store.

As midnight tolls, everyone usually sings a special carol. You might hear children singing it accompanied by triangle music. If you do, give them some money.

After midnight, turn off your lights and head outside to take the kalo podariko, the first step of the new year. One member of the household is sent in on their right foot, and the pomegranate on the front door is smashed—the more seeds that spread, the better.

In the early hours of the 1st, share some vasilopita cake and hope to cut the prize slice, containing a coin or charm, granting you luck for the rest of the year. The name means “Basil’s Bread,” after St. Basil, a beloved Greek saint whose people were taxed by the emperor of the time. Having no money, they gave up their jewelry in payment, but the tax was later denounced and the wealth given back. Unable to say whose was whose, Basil famously basked it all into a loaf and cut everyone a piece. Lo and behold, each person received a slice containing their property.

In Italy…

Have one last fire to bid farewell to the past year and use the ashes as a talisman against evil or damage in the house.

Dinner of the eve should always be cotechino e lenticchie, pork sausage and lentils, which represent luck and prosperity for the year to come. Make sure to have some grapes for dessert—if you were disciplined enough to save some from the harvest, you must be wise, so you’ll likewise be frugal with your money.

Again, undies are important, but here they must be red.

Watch your head as you stroll on the 31st, as anything old might be tossed out the window… the underwear will also be tossed out after being worn, but usually just in the trash.

Happy New Year, wherever you ring it in!

Bonne route,

Kat Kalashian signature

Kat Kalashian

Editor, In Focus: Europe

Tags: 'Expat Life''Live In Italy'expats in spainlife abroadmove overseasmove to GreecePortugal
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Kat Kalashian

Kat Kalashian

Kat Kalashian has grown up around the world, living in the United States, Ireland, France, and Panama, and has traveled extensively in her few years. Growing up as a young expat she is familiar with the trials and tribulations of an overseas move and the adjustments that must be made in every new destination. After living in Panama for seven years, she and her husband relocated back to Paris, France, in 2018 where they now live full-time with their American-born cat, Panamanian-born dog, and two French-born daughters. She's now been living in Paris for over 10 cumulative years, and enjoys being able to explore France and the rest of Europe at every opportunity. As head of Live And Invest Overseas’ European Division, she is Editorial Director of Europe Uncovered, a monthly subscription service, MCs the Europe based Live And Invest Conferences, and scouts out new locations for coverage on the Continent.

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Super Cheap

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  • Boquete, Panama
  • Kyrenia, Cyprus
  • Hua Hin, Thailand
  • The Algarve, Portugal

Affordable

  • Valencia, Spain
  • Cascais, Portugal
  • Las Terrenas, The DR
  • Pisa, Italy
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