How the French Celebrate Christmas: A Festive Guide 🎄

[@Tycobb10]

We’re moving to France in January. Your explanation of the Christmas Season in France is so very much appreciated!

[@berrymail6623]

Oh man that’s exciting🎉 Can’t wait for our family to be able to say the same. Safe travels❤

[@anewlifein_france]

Congratulations on your move! You are going to really enjoy France!

[@wackthegood8884]

I've been in France for 37 years and thoroughly enjoyed the long, drawn-out, gourmet Christmas Eve meal right from my first Christmas here, but it took me years to get used to opening presents on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas day! I quickly converted my french in-laws to Christmas pudding and mince pies which they love and which are eagerly awaited every year.

[@maryjanekolesar8325]

February 2nd is Candlemass Day, the presentation of our Lord, the Light, and marks the end of the Christmas season. It also translates the Chandeleur.

[@Raphstav]

As a French living abroad i really enjoyed your video. Thank you very much! Joyeux Noël!

[@3810-dj4qz]

As a Mexican, we also do the shoe thing, but they are for the day of the 3 Kings on Jan 6. Sometimes the shoes are by the door, sometimes under the tree (we don't remove the tree until after Jan 6) and presents are left by the shoes for the children. We also have the Rosca with baby Jesus's inside. And on Feb 2 (Candelaria), we have a tamale party thrown by the 1st person who got the baby Jesus in their cake from Jan 6.

[@Belaziraf]

In the Eastern part of France, in my younger days, we used to celebrate Saint Nicholas in the early December, waiting for kids after school and distributing candies and gingerbread. Then we waited for Christmas presents from the "Père Noël". Having left Alsace Lorraine for a few decades, I'm not sure they still celebrate Saint Nicholas. But even as a non believer who knew Santa doesn't exist, those were fond memories and I often wished the rest of France would celebrate Saint Nicholas too.

[@fleur-jq6sd]

Je peux vous assurer que nous fêtons toujours la Saint Nicolas en Alsace. Les enfants attendent avec impatience son arrivée dans les écoles. Et dans les entreprises nous distribuons Manele et clémentines. Et les salariés savent très bien nous le rappeler. L'arrivée de Saint Nicolas à Nancy est paraît-il un vrai spectacle. Je ne l'ai jamais fait.

[@ChachouLP]

Pourquoi vouloir que le reste de la France célèbre Saint Nicolas ? Ça vient des pays de l'Est et de l'Allemagne non ? Nous avons le Père Noël c'est déjà bien ;)

[@Belaziraf]

@@ChachouLP Non. Saint Nicolas est un saint tout ce qu'il y a de plus chrétien, enfin plutôt catholique. Le père Noël est un personnage originellement irlandais issu de légendes païennes, tout vêtu de vert comme leurs Leprechauns, popularisé aux USA par les marchands qui y ont vu une mine d'or pour les affaires en liant l'histoire à Noël. Le Père Noël ne s'est vêtu de rouge que dans le début du 20è siècle me semble-t-il. Et la tradition de Noël Française n'a adopté le père Noël qu'après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Véhiculé, encore une fois par les marchands, Français cette fois. La grande différence entre Noël des pays d'Europe et le reste du monde, c'est que ça reste beaucoup plus empreint des valeurs morales qu'on y attachait. D'où un jour non travaillé excepté pour les postes essentiels, malgré le fond mercantile de la période.

[@lulu6618]

Great! Thanks

[@JD987abc]

Excellent work. Very informative. I go to Paris every January for a minimum of 2 week, usually the first two weeks. I enjoy seeing the decorations and festive atmosphere and wonderful foods only around in winter. This January I will be arriving on January 10 spending 3 nights in Montmartre then heading to house shopping in a few areas such as parts of Brittany, Limoges, Haute Vienne and Charentes. Some interesting houses and towns in these areas. My last week will be visiting friends in Paris and departing for the US on the 31. Last year I was disappointed that the Christmas markets in Paris were all closed by the 4th when I arrived. Pity as I would have enjoyed visiting them. All best to you, Joseph.

[@beatricecarter5522]

Sounds wonderful! I will be returning for a visit in June for 10 days w my daughter. We started this tradition last year. I hope to go during Christmas one year. Any suggestions for us? We stay in Paris but hope to venture out more.

[@JD987abc]

Last January I flew from PHL to CDG on an American flight first week in January and met a mother and daughter who were going to Paris for their first time. Interesting. If you would like to venture out I’d suggest taking the 12 metro line to Issy les Moulineaux which is the Mairie D’Issy terminal. It’s a very cute place very walkable around the metro stop with plenty of cafes, restaurants, shops etc. there’s a great boulangère as well as a outdoor market the later part of the week. And there’s three free buses that you can take from the square near the TI that will give you a sense of the town beyond the town center. Another easy excursion would be to Chartres about an hour train ride from Gare Montparnasse. The famous and beautiful Gothic Cathedral of Chartres is definitely worth the trip as are the quaint villages and cafes. Everything walkable. The RER A-10 red line will take you to Saint Germaine en Laye where you’ll find a chateau where Louis XIV was born. It offers lodging and restaurants and beautiful gardens and sitting areas to gaze over Paris while enjoying the sun. Everything is walkable including the little town which has several restaurants cafes and shops. Im sure there are others but these three are easy to get to by metro, RER or train. Enjoy your time in Paris. Joseph.

[@beatricecarter5522]

@@JD987abcMerci! This was great information. How interesting about meeting a mother/daughter but I have been to France 3x and my daughter’s 1st last year. We will definitely look into your suggestions, sounds wonderful! We might include a day trip to London. Happy travels!

[@savedraven5096]

Our Christmas here in Northern Canada includes the Christmas Eve dinner with family and Friends, also a candle lit church service where we all sing traditional hymns to Praise God for the gift of Jesus our Lord and Savior ! It is such a special day and evening. We would never give glory to 'santa" or believe in anyone or anything that knows our thoughts and our hearts. Truly we all know only God can know those things, which is precisely why we all need a Savior! Praise the Lord for JESUS❤🙏🏻

[@JamesBrown-ij1px]

Lovely, Merci. Joyeux Noel.

[@philiprowlands-e9p]

Interesting. Thanks, Phil.

[@taramaclaird9633]

Love your videos. Very interesting and informative.❤️

[@susan8823]

Merci! Excellent review

[@elizabetheyma-davies8584]

Hi. Loved your blog .. it’s the first time I’ve found you. If you do a visa special..please please can you ask about a visa if you are married to a french national I find very little information. Thanks 😊

[@lovingdisneymagic9806]

Very nice video! How about New Years ? Do French and Europeans celebrate like Americans?

[@williamevans9426]

I presmue the French postal service is more reliable than that of the UK, with children writing to Père Noël being guaranteed a reply. I fear that, had the UK implemented such a scheme, many expectant tiny tots woud have been sorely disappointed.

[@leviturner3265]

To be fair Strasbourg and the Alsace was historically German culturally, linguistically, and ethnically. It only became part of France in 1681, and then reverted back to Germany in 1871 until 1918. So claiming the Christmas markets began in France is pretty misleading. As I am guessing at the time of the first Christmas markets the town was inhabited by ethnic Germans, that spoke a German dialect, and were part of The Holy Roman Empire. Nowadays, it is in France, but that is a more recent phenomena.

[@michaelcuthbert-ys7wg]

Strasbourg only became French in 1681 under Louis XIV. In the 1570S it was German...

[@lesfreresdelaquote1176]

Not exactly. Germany didn't exist at that time. It was the Holy Roman Empire, which was a loose federations of duchies and kingdoms, with an elected emperor. This empire covered a large part of what is now Belgium and some parts of today's France, Nederland, Poland, Czech Republic and Italy... So much larger than today's Germany...

[@leviturner3265]

It was part of the Holy Roman Empire, which was largely a confederation of Germanic states, although other states were also a part of it. It is misleading to say that the Christmas markets started in France, because they started in Strasbourg. As like the first comment says it was not part of France until 1681, and even after that it became part of Germany from 1871 until 1918. However, it was a Germanic region inhabited by ethnic Germans, who spoke a German dialect, and were German culturally throughout most of its history. Even when you go to Strasbourg today you can see the Germanic nature of the food, and the names of the food. It is interesting now, because the French government tried to make the region assimilate. Nowadays most the people speak French there.

[@mc.8391]

Not very different from christmas anywhere else really. Plus i think most christmas's on the continent, certainly Germany start on christmas eve

[@JustDucky-d9k]

Lots of talking. Too bad there wasn't any photos of lights, dinner table, towns bedecked.

[@christinelachance8012]

FYI: The city of Reims is NOT pronounced reems…

[@joesoy9185]

The French are the first to mispronounce English and American towns, cities, names etc. Reems is the English pronunciation of Reims. If you live in a glass house, don´t throw stones.

[@christinelachance8012]

@ Thankfully I don’t live in a glass house, now kindly go away…

[@zyxw2000]

Would like to see more of France and less of the narrator. That's why it's a video and not a book.

[@ephemerabluetit335]

Way to spin a little into a lot of nothing.

[@mlomarechal6877]

A votre image donc !