{"id":8150,"date":"2018-12-20T12:30:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T17:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.frenchlanguagesalon.com\/?p=2844"},"modified":"2020-01-21T21:31:57","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T21:31:57","slug":"christmas-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture\/christmas-in-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in France"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Christmas<\/strong> <\/span>is a famous holiday all around the world, a family day where we give each other presents and eat a good meal together. With that said, each country has its own traditions around the <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>25th of December<\/strong><\/span>. France is no exception.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>How do French people celebrate Christmas?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>To start, and this is not going to be a big surprise, in France, Christmas is centered around food. So, the most important component of the holiday is the <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Christmas dinner<\/strong><\/span>. But the first difference between France and other countries, is that meal is not happening on the 25 but on the 24 on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Christmas Eve<\/strong><\/span>. The main elements of this meal are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Foie gras<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0on a slice of\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>gingerbread<\/strong> <\/span>as an\u00a0<em>appetizer<\/em><\/li>\n<li>A <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Capon<\/strong> <\/span>as the\u00a0<em>main dish<\/em><\/li>\n<li>A <span style=\"color: #003300;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Christmas Buche<\/span><\/strong><\/span> as <em>dessert<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span>The <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Buche<\/strong> <\/span>is really important. This dessert can be found in every bakery and there are different types: cake or ice-cream, fruit or chocolate flavored. Always in a log shape and decorated with its little plastic <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Santa<\/strong> <\/span>or the woodcutter and his saw. Kitsch but mandatory!<\/p>\n<p>Apart from the food, French people pay less attention to the decorations than Americans. For example, a typical house in France will just have a Christmas tree and its <strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">garlands<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>and <strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">ornaments<\/span><\/strong> . Sometimes, there are some other little Christmassy touches here and there, but that&#8217;s all. No lights, no inflatables, just something simple.<\/p>\n<p>About the <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>presents<\/strong><\/span>, we get ready pretty late in France. Lots of people wait for <span style=\"color: #000000;\">the <\/span>last 2 weeks to do their <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Christmas shopping<\/strong><\/span>. Also, surprises are not as common except for the young kids. We give each other an idea of what we want and by doing so, avoid the &#8220;presents for the closet (or re gifting)&#8221;. And one more time, the 24th is the big day, we wait for midnight and open our presents. An additional difference is that\u00a0<strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Christmas cards<\/span><\/strong> are not that trendy anymore in France and tend to be used only by our grandmas, while in the United States they seem to be making a come back among the younger generations!<\/p>\n<p>If you want to experience the French Christmas spirit, we recommend visiting the <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Christmas markets<\/strong><\/span> all across France (the biggest are in the North and the East of the Hexagon) on your travels.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em><strong>Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday&#8217;s to everyone!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V-PD5iz7qdE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christmas is a famous holiday all around the world, a family day where we give each other presents and eat a good meal together. With that said, each country has its own traditions around the 25th of December. France is no exception. How do French people celebrate Christmas? To start, and this is not going [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[36,75,85],"tags":[199,201],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/122018-christmas.jpg?fit=2000%2C1038&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kt18-27s","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1051,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture-en\/comment-la-parisienne-va-t-elle-shabiller-cette-annee-pour-le-reveillon-de-noel\/","url_meta":{"origin":8150,"position":0},"title":"How is a Parisian going to get dressed for Christmas Eve in 2017?","date":"December 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The fashion is actually the same every year, since Christmas Eve in France is traditionally a formal family party. Most of the time women wear a classic cocktail dress or suit. The outfit may have a touch of originality but should be kept formal, and makeup is worn a little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;French Culture&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/122417-parisiandinner.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2337,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/france-v-usa-en\/holidays-in-france\/","url_meta":{"origin":8150,"position":1},"title":"Holidays in France","date":"April 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We just celebrated Easter in France. Unlike in the United States, Easter Monday is also a holiday in France. This means that we do not work as this day was traditionally spent for family time and religious celebration. Here are the other observed holidays in France: 12 a year in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;France v. USA&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/041818-holidaysinfrance.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1299,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture-en\/les-cloches-de-paques-the-french-easter-bells\/","url_meta":{"origin":8150,"position":2},"title":"The French Easter Bells!","date":"April 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Easter in France is a quiet holiday where families, both religious and non-religious, spend the day together with a traditionally large meal. This meal is typically served over many courses including lamb for dinner and a dessert which includes chocolate. But for more religious families, there is the tale of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;French Culture&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/041217-Easter-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1042,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/arts-media-en\/lets-translate-some-movie-titles\/","url_meta":{"origin":8150,"position":3},"title":"Let&#8217;s Translate Some Movie Titles!","date":"January 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year in France, an American or Canadian Christmas movie becomes a big box office hit! This year the box office champion is \u201cThe night before \u2013 secret party\u201d. But the all-time favorite Christmas movie is, for French people of all generations, Tim Burton\u2019s \u201cThe Nightmare Before Christmas\u201d. Play the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arts &amp; Media&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/01242017-Movies-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2268,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-traditions\/celebrate-easter-in-france\/","url_meta":{"origin":8150,"position":4},"title":"Celebrate Easter in France","date":"March 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Easter exists in France and in America but there are a few differences between the 2 celebrations. In France, even if this is a religious holiday, it is more often a family holiday to celebrate the beginning of Spring. Normally, the French Spring Break always happens around this date. Another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;French Traditions&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/032818-paques.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1047,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture-en\/happy-new-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":8150,"position":5},"title":"Happy New Year!","date":"January 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In France people commonly wish a happy new year to each other by \u00ab\u00a0Bonne ann\u00e9e\u00a0! Bonne sant\u00e9\u00a0! \u00bb You may also use a longer and more sophisticated wish like \u201c I wish you a year full of happiness and achievement.\u201d French people exchange New Year greetings\u00a0 when they meet in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;French Culture&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/010117-HappyNewYear-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8150"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9176,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8150\/revisions\/9176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}