Père Noël, or Father Christmas, as Santa Claus is called in France. Mind you, this makes a lot more sense: Claus is really a reference to Saint Nicholas and as such doesn’t really have much to do with Christmas, at least depending on what culture one comes from. When I grew up, I was told that the presents that are exchanged at Christmas are meant to symbolize the gifts the Three Kings brought the newborn Jesus. Saint Nicholas, on the other hand, appeared on December 6 to reward the good children and punish those who had misbehaved during the year. And Saint Nicholas lived in the Black Forest, not at the North Pole, and he had neither elves nor reindeer... Apparently the only things all cultures agree on is that no object is too tacky when it comes to making a profit...