Paris' Rungis market groaning with seasonal cheer

Plump turkeys adorned with red ribbons, proud capons trussed up in tinsel - the finest poultry is again the star of the show as French cooks shop for Christmas in Paris' biggest market.

While the French capital sleeps, a vast fleet of trucks and delivery vans perform a ballet in the freezing mist, shipping vast quantities of meat, cheese, vegetables and delicacies to the city's shops and restaurants.

Rungis market is almost a city in its own right, spread over 234 hectares (578 acres), and Christmas its busiest season.

The 120,000 tonnes of food that pass through its alleys in December account for a quarter of its annual trade.

French families traditionally enjoy a lavish evening meal on December 24, Christmas Eve, and - along with oysters - birds are a centrepiece: geese, turkeys, chickens, game birds or capons, stuffed with sweet chestnuts.

This year, the must-have bird is the goose, but, as poultry seller Gino Catena warns, wrapped up against the pre-dawn chill in his bright red anorak: "It's an animal which is relatively pricey per kilo."

With France in the grip of financial crisis, he recommends thrifty shoppers opt for a "poularde" a fattened chicken raised

Foie gras - the liver of a force-fed goose or in this case duck - is considered a luxury in most of the world, but Catena says that in France this year it's "actually very affordable", prices having tumbled 10 percent.