Christmas may be celebrated in many parts of the world, but in France, that celebration may involve hot wine and oysters. And a lot of other things that you may or may not consider unusual.
Noël – Christmas
French – English Translation
The word “Noël” in French likely comes from the Latin word “natalis” meaning “day of birth”. But it could also come from those intrepid Gauls, who used the Gaellic words “noio hel“, meaning “nouveau soleil” in French, “new sun” in English”.
So here are the most interesting French Christmas traditions, that are a bit different. (But not too much of course, it is still Christmas!)
- 1. Real Christmas trees
- 2. Gifts in shoes
- 3. Vin chaud
- 4. Postcard from Père Noël
- 5. Marché de Noël
- 6. Gifts are opened on the 24th evening
- 7. Table decorations
- 9. Seafood is a must
- 8. Big dinners that go on for hours
- 10. Bûche de Noël
- 11. Thirteen desserts in Provence
- 12. Crèches and the Santons de Noël
- 13. French offices give gifts to employees' kids
- 14. Jesus is placed in the Crèche at midnight
- 15. No boxing day
- 16. La fête des Rois
1. Real Christmas trees
In France, people tend to get real Christmas trees. There are no percentages on this, excluding the people who are not Christian, but anecdotally if you walk around town, you will notice French supermarkets selling real Christmas trees from around the 1st of December.
Sapin – Evergreen tree typical at Christmas
French – English Translation
No plastic trees stacked in the garage or the basement, the fresh scent of pine and fir is calling.
The real trees are so popular, that several companies have started offering “rentals” of real Christmas trees, where the tree arrives with its roots intact to be replanted after the holidays. The best of both worlds, having a real tree but with less environmental impact.
2. Gifts in shoes
In North America, we may be used to hanging stockings, but in France, the children put out their shoes by the fireplace for Santa to fill with gifts and candy.
The famous French Christmas song Petit Papa Noël sung by a small child, has the sweet little line at end begging Santa to “remember his little shoe”.
☞ READ MORE: Top 12 French Christmas Songs to put you in the festive spirit
3. Vin chaud
Vin chaud, or Glühwein as it is called in German, is basically a hot mulled wine. North Americans may not be that familiar with it, but it is a winter staple in Europe. (Eggnog is not popular in France.)
With a mixture of spices such as cinnamon, cloves, anise, nutmeg, and citron zests, it is a lovely way to warm up on a cold winter’s night. Get the Vin Chaud recipe here, as well as a non-alcoholic version.
☞ READ MORE: Easy Guide to the French Wines
4. Postcard from Père Noël
Now there might be some dispute between Canadians and the Finns as to whether Santa is in Lapland or North Pole, Canada, but French children prefer to write to their own local Père Noël.
Père Noël – Father Christmas
French – English Translation
Since 1962, when an enterprising French postal worker started opening and replying to children’s letters, the French postal service in the town of Libourne (near Bordeaux) opens and replies to every letter sent. It doesn’t matter whether you get the address correct or not, just mark your letter to “Père Noël“, and remember to include your own return address.
In addition, since this is the internet age, you can also pop a letter off to Santa from his website.
☞ READ MORE: France in Winter: Visiting when it is cold (Brr)
5. Marché de Noël
If you live in France, you know Christmas is coming once you start seeing the booths being installed in your town or neighborhood.
The most famous Marché de Noël in France is the one in Strasbourg, but the one next to the Champs Elysées in Paris is not too shabby either.
With small rides, Christmas trees for sale, and everything from cheese, meats, lavender products, and any other artisanal product you can think of, these little Christmas markets will put a smile on anyone’s face.
Enjoy a raclette cheese sandwich and a vin chaud (or a non-alcoholic version) while you do your Christmas shopping.
6. Gifts are opened on the 24th evening
The night of December 24th is called the Réveillon de Noël (or veille de Noël), and it is actually this night when the big celebration is held in France. The big Christmas dinner with family and friends is usually on Dec 24th, after which is the traditional opening of gifts.
Of course, if you have small children, this is a bit difficult to explain how you are opening gifts when Santa hasn’t been by yet, so many French families do defer the gift-opening to the next morning.
7. Table decorations
For the big Christmas dinner, French people are not afraid to pull out the fine china.
Even regular weeknight dinners will involve a proper table setting and napkins, so you can imagine that there are no shortcuts taken for Christmas.
Shop Favorites:
- 24-piece Plate set for 6 – by Villeroy & Boch
- 12-piece red and white wine glass set for 6 – by Libbey
- 38-piece cutlery set for 6 – by Belleek
- 8-piece serving dishes – by Godinger Silver Art Co.
- Champagne flutes for 6 – by House of Hampton
- 23-piece tea set for 6 – by August Grove
9. Seafood is a must
Fresh seafood doesn’t really figure much on the Christmas menu in North America, but in France, it is a must. Everything from smoked salmon, fresh oysters, and coquilles st jacques (en pesto or gratin) will be on the menu at Christmas, as well as on New Year’s eve.
For the well-to-do, expensive lobsters will also be purchased for the dinner guests from the local poissonerie (fish shop).
8. Big dinners that go on for hours
This is the grand event of the annual calendar with the family, so along with seafood, the traditional French Christmas dinner involves everything from foie gras to the finest meats, several starters, sides and more.
So you can imagine that the Christmas meal goes on for hours. And I mean hours. You can easily be sitting there for 5-6 hours, by the time you get from the apéritifs to the digestifs and coffee.
10. Bûche de Noël
One thing that is requisite in France, it is the traditional French Christmas cake for dessert.
Known as the Bûche de Noël, it is usually a chocolate sponge cake in the shape of a log (bûche) covered in cream.
They can be as elaborate or as simple as you want, but this is one French Christmas tradition that you cannot get away from. A similar cake is also served in France at Easter and New Year’s eve.
11. Thirteen desserts in Provence
If you haven’t already eaten enough yet, you still have dessert (no, the Bûche de Noël doesn’t count). In Provence, the tradition is to lay out an array of 13 desserts, usually starting the week before Christmas.
This way all the visitors to your house during the Christmas holidays have something to nibble on while they visit.
It is not clear how this tradition got started, but the presumption is that it has something to do with the 13 Apostles and the last supper. Thirteen different desserts, like calissons d’aix-en-provence and nougats de montélimar will
☞ READ MORE: French desserts that are too blissful for words
12. Crèches and the Santons de Noël
Another interesting Provençal Christmas tradition is the Santons de Noël. While most crèches (nativity scenes) usually only feature the Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the animals, in Provence, they feature the whole village!
All sorts of folks from the typical French village, such as the butcher, milkman, postal worker, etc will be featured in the nativity scene as porcelain figurines. These figurines will be usually on sale at the Marché de Noël so that you can festoon your crèche as you wish.
13. French offices give gifts to employees’ kids
At the end of the year, many companies across France distribute Cheques cadeaux (gift certificates) to its employees at the end of the year. Which sounds nice and all, except not everyone gets the same amount: there is an amount given per employee, and also per child.
So as an example, everyone in the firm may get a €100 gift certificate, but if you have 5 kids, you also can get an amount per child like €50 x 5 kids, for a grand total of €350. Your childless coworker on the other hand gets only €100. You can read more about Christmas in offices here.
14. Jesus is placed in the Crèche at midnight
If you walk by a crèche in front of a church in France before December 25th, you may realize that the Baby Jesus is missing. Nobody has made off with him, baby Jesus doesn’t officially arrive at the crèche until midnight of December 24th. Just in time for worshipers arriving for Midnight mass!
15. No boxing day
Brits and Canadians may be used to Boxing day sales, where people try to score large discounts on unsold merchandise, but there is no such thing in France.
Instead, French people have to wait until the 2nd week of January for the soldes d’hiver (winter sales) which run for 4 weeks.
☞ READ MORE: French Holiday Calendar: All the Officials and Quirky celebrations
16. La fête des Rois
The baby Jesus may have been born on December 25th, but it took a while for the 3 Kings to arrive. The Christmas season (unofficially) comes to an end at Epiphany, otherwise known as 3 Kings Day.
It is not a public holiday in France, but is still recognized in schools and workplaces with a galette de roi. It is a pastry in a form of a cake from Brittany.
An interesting detail is that it has a feuve (small figurine) hidden inside of it, and the person who finds the feuve in his/her slice of galette is crowned King or Queen for the day.
☞ READ MORE: French Winter dishes: 8 Recipes to warm you up
I hope you enjoyed that list of interesting French Christmas traditions! As a little gift, you can download some free Christmas French-English flashcards below. Joyeux Noël and à bientôt !
