Christmas in France vs. America

Joyeux réveillon de Noël! (Merry Christmas Eve! Also called La veille de Noël in France.) With Christmas being tomorrow, I decided to do some research on the differences between the holiday in France and America. Watching several YouTube videos from expatriates including Diane (Oui in France), Rosie McCarthy (Not Even French), Kate (Unintentionally Frenchified), and Jordan Patrick, I’ve compiled the list below of some of the biggest differences: 

1. Christmas Markets

One thing that was mentioned in every video that I watched was that France has some of the best Christmas markets. Strasbourg, a city on the east of France right next to Germany, was mentioned as having really festive Christmas markets. Apparently these markets attract a lot of people and personally it’s not something I’ve seen or done in the U.S.

2. Christmas Cards

Practically as soon as it hits December as an American, you start receiving and/or sending Christmas cards in the mail. Cards arrive from friends and loved ones in time to hang around your house or on your refrigerator for the holiday season. In France, this is a bit different. Rather than Christmas cards, people more often send New Year cards. In stores, supposedly there are many more cards saying “Bonne année” (Happy New Year) rather than celebrating the actual holiday of Christmas. 

3. Sales

As an American, I can attest to the fact that we love the holiday sales. November and December are the time to purchase everything because of the seasonal offers; well, at least the promotion of these offers convinces us that it’s the best price. In France, there are two times a year where the country has big sales, “les soldes,” as mandated by the government. These two sales happen around January and July. Therefore, most gifts at Christmas time do not come at major discounts as they do in the U.S. Although, as time passes, France is starting to pick up on Americanized traditions such as Black Friday deals (even though they do not celebrate Thanksgiving), so the world of sales may be changing there. 

4. Food

From what I learned doing research for this post, it seems that many people in France celebrate with a big meal on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas day. The meal on Christmas Eve is called Le Réveillon, coming from the verb réveiller which means to wake up. Typically, this meal can continue for hours and go into the night, and on Christmas day the meal may be smaller. As for the food itself, a French meal may include seafood, foie gras and turkey, and dessert is usually a bûche de Noël (yule log cake). This differs from American holiday meals which are often turkey, potatoes, cranberries, gravy and bread.  

5. Stockings

One thing that I’ve learned (and that I don’t really love) is that there are no stockings in France. Personally, I love waking up on Christmas morning and opening the stocking. Apparently, in France children will leave a pair of shoes by the tree/fireplace in hopes of finding small goodies in the morning in their shoes, almost like a stocking. Also, instead of giving Santa milk and cookies as we do in the U.S, French children may put carrots in their shoes for the deer. For most American families, gift-opening happens in the morning or during the day (in my family it was always as soon as everyone was awake). The videos I watched said that many French families wait until after dinner to open gifts.

6. Le Père Fouettard

Last but not least is le Père Fouettard, probably the most shocking tradition that I heard. Santa in France is named le Père Noël, meaning Father Christmas. However, he doesn’t come alone. Alongside him, le Père Fouettard, translating the whipping father, is the darker figure who comes to give coal, or even whip the bad children. This is definitely shocking and I wonder if it is becoming more outdated as the world becomes more sensitive. 

As for other religions, I read that while there is a large Jewish population in France, you won’t find many decorations or menorahs in stores. I don’t have too much detail on that, but I did see that Hanukkah is not as popular there. 

I hope you found this as interesting as I did! Merry Christmas 🙂