I have been in Paris several times around the Christmas season, ever since my first visit in 1996. I think I still have old photographs (remember those?) of the display windows at the department stores showing different little vignettes of the holidays in action.
France has a heavily Christian background, and today about 50% of the population is Christian, so Christmas is a big part of the holiday season. Here are some of my favorite things about being in France — and Paris, specifically — around the holidays:
Christmas food
I think for me the most visible and iconic of all the holiday foods is la bûche, or yule log. They can come as fancy as you can imagine and are on sale at bakeries and supermarkets. From the photo above you can see they come in all kinds of flavors: Caribbean (coconut and lemon), Rocher (hazelnut and chocolate), Strawberry Vanilla. Here’s a link to an article (with photos!) of some ultra fancy bûches.
A typical Christmas dinner, as was discussed in one of my French conversation groups, often includes oysters, foie gras, smoked salmon, some kind of poultry, and champagne. Don’t forget the cheese and dessert, of course. Let’s say that by the end of the meal, people are a little tipsy with the Christmas spirit(s).
Paris Christmas markets
I love the marchés de Noël, or Christmas markets. I would argue that the Germans do them best, but France has them too. In Paris, you can find a row of stalls on Boulevard St. Germain and around St. Michel. If you go to the Hôtel de Ville in the center of town, there is a beautiful market just in front of the iconic building. Then there is the big Christmas market at La Défense, all the way at the end of Line 1 on the metro. This year I went to La Défense, but I’ll just be honest: it was ‘meh’. Maybe that’s because I’ve been spoiled by German Christmas markets.
Pro tip: they say the best Christmas market in France is in Strasbourg. Look it up — it does look amazing and my goal is to head over there someday.
Department store displays
If I had to, I’m sure I could find some old photographs of the first time I ever visited Paris around the holidays. Unfortunately, they’re buried in a box somewhere in my parents’ basement. What I do remember were shop windows at Galeries Lafayette showing festive scenes of a toy baker in his kitchen, whipping up something delectable for the masses. I was captivated.
Every year, many shops from big-name retail stores (Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior) to mom-and-pops have some kind of holiday display. But my favorite thing to see is the storefronts of the grands magasins, department stores like Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, and BHV, all located in central Paris. Further south, in the 7th arrondisement, is Le Bon Marché, a classic old department store that is all glimmer and shimmer when you go inside. They have an amazing food store called Le Grande Épicerie that is not to be missed and has countless displays of Christmas treats for sale.
Holiday lights
Come on, how can you not love the City of Light all lit up? I just love it. Anywhere you go, the place is lit up…like a Christmas tree.
Advent calendars for everything
This is actually my favorite thing about Christmas in France: there are advent calendars for everything. My favorite is the one for teas, from brands like Yogi and Pukka to French tea shops like Palais des Thés and Mariage Frères. I bought one from Pukka like the one pictured above, and loved the different teas that I wouldn’t normally buy in a box.
Then of course we have the advent calendars with chocolate and other kinds of confiseries (candy). And finally, if I had zero financial constraints, I would buy myself a skincare advent calendar every year. High-end brands like Clarins (one of my faves) has one, with little samples of their products. (Santa, if you’re reading this, please keep it in mind for future.)
Going to Church
I’m not one for going to church, but in Paris you cannot not go into at least one. There are so many and they’re hundreds of years old and have witnessed so much of Paris’ history. There’s Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre from the 12th century (!!), St. Elisabeth of Hungary from the 17th century, and Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, also from the 17th century, to name a very, very few that I have visited.
If you happen to be in France on Christmas, it’s well worth it to go to a church mass. I went to one last year at St-Etienne-du-Mont. It’s the resting place of Saint Genevieve (the subject of my very first Substack article) and the bones of this church date back to the Middle Ages. As my Aussie friend would say, it’s really old. On Christmas Eve last year, I attended mass at around 7pm and got to hear prayers and hymns in French. The general spirit of the place was magical. Bring a warm coat.
December afternoon light
In most of France - from Paris to the south - the sun sets somewhere around 5pm. But if you are outside in a park around 3:30-4:30 on a sunny day, you will catch the most extraordinary light as the sun prepares to rest for the night.
Well that about wraps it up for my favorite things about Christmas in Paris. Oh wait:
Before I wrap it up…
Funny story: I was in the small supermarket near my apartment in Paris a few weeks ago. Over the speaker, Frank Sinatra was singing ‘Jingle Bells’. As I was going to the checkout, a French man passed me, singing, “…jingle all the way!” then he said, “c’est vrai?” (“It’s true?”) and I said, “oui, c’est vrai!” (yes, it’s true!) and we both laughed. It was really funny… I guess you had to be there.