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Traditions
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Holidays and Observances for 2009
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| January 01 | New Year's Day (Jour de l'An) | | February 24 | Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) | | April 10 | Good Friday (Vendredi Saint) | | April 12 | Easter Sunday (Pâques) | | April 13 | Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques) | | May 01 | Labour Day (Fête du Travail) | | May 08 | V-E Day (Fête de la Victoire 1945) | | May 21 | Ascension Day (Ascension) | | May 31 | Pentecost (Pentecôte) | | June 01 | Whit Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte) | | July 14 | Bastille Day (Fête Nationale) | | August 15 | Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assomption) | | November 01 | All Saints' Day (Toussaint) | | November 11 | Armistice Day (Armistice 1918) | | December 06 | St Nicholas Day (Saint Nicolas) | | December 25 | Christmas Day (Noël) |
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New! France Calendars for 2009
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Christmas Customs
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Christmas in France is celebrated mainly in a religious manner, though some secular ways of celebrating the holiday also exist. Children put their shoes by the fireplace so Père Noël (Father Christmas or Santa Claus) can give them gifts.
Typical Provençal Nativity scene. Image courtesy of Eusebius (Guillaume Piolle).
Many French families also decorate their homes with Nativity Scenes depicting the birth of Jesus. Many families attend midnight mass. Some people put additional Santons (little saints) in their nativity scenes, which are bought at special Christmas fairs before the holidays
More information on Christmas worldwide
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New! French Christmas Word Search Puzzle
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Print and solve the new French Christmas Word search puzzle. Search for words vertically, diagonally, horizontally and backwards. Click here to open a new browser window - use the browser's Print option to print puzzle.
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Weddings and Courtships - France
Envision a First Date. Infuse a Relationship. Plan a Wedding. Live the French Life. French romance: the history and mythology, the poetry, blessings, food and drinks. A book for everyone looking to embrace all things French in the ways of love. Start with courtship, then create the perfect wedding, and keep the fire alive with everyday French living.
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Wedding Customs
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In smaller French towns, the groom may meet his fiancée at her home on the day of the wedding and escort her to the chapel where the ceremony is being held. As the couple proceeds to the chapel, children will stretch long white ribbons across the road which the bride will cut as she passes.
At the chapel, the bride and groom are seated on two red velvet chairs underneath a silk canopy called a carre. Laurel leaves may be scattered across their paths when they exit the chapel. Sometimes small coins are also tossed for the children to gather.
At the reception, the couple customarily uses a toasting cup called a Coupe de Marriage. The origin of giving this toast began in France, when a small piece of toast was literally dropped into the couple's wine to ensure a healthy life. The couple would lift their glass to "a toast", as is common in Western culture today.
Some couples choose to serve a croquembouche instead of a wedding cake. This dessert is a pyramid of crème-filled pastry puffs, drizzled with a caramel glaze.
Croquembouche wedding cake. Image courtesy of
Eric Baker
At a more boisterous wedding, tradition involves continuing the celebration until very late at night. After the reception, those invited to the wedding will gather outside the newlyweds' window and bang pots and pans. They are then invited into the house for some more drinks in the couple's honor, after which the couple is finally allowed to be alone for their first night together as husband and wife.
Another practice common at wedding celebrations is Sabrage: the "beheading" a bottle of champagne with a sabre made for the occasion. It was started as a way for the Hussars (under Napoleon's command) to celebrate victories and exhibit their horseback skills: they would "behead" the top off a bottle of champagne while on horseback. Legend has it that the skilled horsemen would ride at a full gallop while brave women held up bottles of champagne. The sabre must strike the neck of the bottle at exactly the right angle (champagne bottles have over 100 pounds of pressure per square inch).
This practice spread throughout France as a way to celebrate special occasions. Decorative replicas of these special sabres can be purchased from artisans in Lyon, France (the French capital of cutlery).
More information on Weddings
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| New! Collectibles from France |
Preview our selection of traditional pottery, ceramics, porcelain, art glass from France, including: Baccarat Crystal, Choisy, Christofle, Cristal D'Arques, Daum, Delinieres, Denbac, Digoin, Galle Glass, Gien, Haviland Limoges, Jacob Petit, La Rochere, Lalique, Laure Japy, Legras, Longwy, Luneville, Metenier, Moustiers, Niderviller, Onnaing, Orchies, Philippe Deshoulieres, Pierrefonds, Portieux, Puiforcat, Quimper Faience, Rambervillers, Raynaud China, Robj, Sabino Glass, Saint Louis Crystal, Sarreguemines, Sevres, Terre Provence, Vallauris, and more....
Click here to see all collectibles from France |
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Folk Dance and Song
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Fête des Rouaisouns, Jersey 2008(Blaudes et Coeffes de Paris et la Société Alfred Rossel de Cherbourg, Fête des Rouaisouns, mai 2008 Jersey). Image courtesy of Man vyi.
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The French Birthday Song
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Traditional Costumes
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Send flowers and gift baskets to France
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Bastille Day
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The Bastille Day parade in Cazouls les Beziers, Languedoc, France. Image courtesy of MikeSibthorp.
Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year . In France, it is called Fête Nationale ("National Celebration") in official parlance, or more commonly quatorze juillet ("14 July"). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution.
More information on Bastille_day
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(in French)
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