Christmas traditions are different around the world, and while a French Christmas may look a lot like an American one, there are a few traditions that make it stand out. Here are four of our favorites.
1. Advent Calendars
The days leading up to Christmas are known as Advent, and in France, this period of time is celebrated with a calendar filled with chocolates, easily found in any supermarket in Paris beginning as early as late October. On every day of December leading up the the 25th, children open a window in their cardboard calendar to reveal a small chocolate, generally in a festive shape.
While some adults get a chocolate Advent calendar too, other types of calendar, including ones revealing bottles of beer instead of chocolates, have become popular in recent years.
2. Saint Nicholas Day
Early in December, Christmas festivities begin with Saint Nicholas Day, a day derived from the tradition of Saint Nicholas, a man who lived in Turkey in the 3rd century and developed a tradition of gift-giving. In several European countries, including in France, he is commemorated each December 6th with a unique tradition.
On the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, children leave their shoes by the hearth before they go to bed. In the morning, their shoes are filled with coins and sometimes small toys or clementines.
This tradition is especially popular in Northeastern France, where delicious gingerbread cookies in the shape of the original Saint Nick are baked and sold.
3. Christmas Eve
Whereas for most American families, the big holiday is the 25th, in France, the biggest Christmas party takes place on a day when many Americans are still at work: the 24th.
The big Christmas dinner usually takes place on Christmas Eve in France, and some families even exchange gifts on the 24th as well.
What you’ll eat depends a lot on where you live. Many French families roast a turkey with all the trimmings. In Provence, it’s not uncommon to serve fish, followed by a 13-piece traditional Christmas dessert featuring nuts, dried fruits, and marzipan.
4. Epiphany
Most folks don’t know that when we sing about the “12 days of Christmas,” the countdown actually starts on Christmas. The culmination is on January 6th: Epiphany. Traditionally celebrated as the day when the three wise men arrived at the birth of Jesus, in secular France, it’s mainly a day for yet another food-fueled celebration, this time, with a very specific cake known as a galette des rois.
Galettes are puff pastry rounds stuffed with almond paste and a small fève, a porcelain figurine that gets its name from having once been a dried fava bean. The cake is sliced, and the youngest guest sits beneath the table to decide who gets each piece. The person with the fève in his or her slice is crowned king!
