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Christmas in France

So it is almost Christmas time and this is the one tradition that is celebrated all over the world in different ways. In France, many of the traditions are the same as in other European countries and in some ways, traditions are being updated and modernised all the time.

From talking to a number of friends and colleagues to find out more about French Christmas traditions, it is clear that while many traditions remain unchanged, some traditions do vary from family to family…..

One thing that seems to be common to most families is that French people love eating the finer things in life at Christmas. Champagne, oysters, foie gras and smoked salmon feature on the Christmas menus of almost all French people! Unlike the British for example, who eat something at Christmas that they don’t eat the rest of the year (mince pies, Christmas cake, pigs in blankets, roast turkey, brussel sprouts…..), the French don’t have so many foods that are unique to Christmas.

Christmas Day falls on 25^th December, however France among with many European countries do the majority of their celebrating on 24^th December. French people tend to get together with their families on 24^th December and start the Christmas festivities on this day with a large family meal at some time in the evening. This meal will typically last for several hours, often going on into the early hours.

After asking around to get the opinions of a large number of French people, it became clear that when it come to present opening, there is more variation! Some families also open presents on 24^th December, some choose to wait until 25^th December and some do a combination of both. Some of this depends on family traditions, some depends on the ages of the children and some the preferences of the parents. However, the French certainly enjoy a festive, indulgent, sociable, gourmet Christmas as all other countries do!

August 26th, 2025
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