In France, Christmas Eve is when most of the celebrating is done. This is when families will gather for feasting on traditional foods including foie gras, seafood, chestnut dressing, and a bûche de Noël. Many times le Père Noël (Father Christmas) will make an appearance and distribute gifts to the children. Many people also attend midnight mass.

Christmas Decorating

Americans and French probably decorate in similar ways for the holidays. Most families will decorate a tree, called le sapin de Noël. What goes on the tree is really up to each person's creativity, but the French do like red ribbons and little white candles.

The Crêche

In many homes, you will find a nativity scene known as la crêche as part of the Christmas celebration. These range from the very simple to elaborate affairs with lights, candles, music,...
Most towns will also have a nativity scene put up for Christmas, perhaps in the town square or near city hall. Many businesses will have one as well, and there are even competitions for the best nativity scene. One charming aspect to all of these crêches is that it is only on Christmas day that the baby Jesus is added to the nativity scene.

Candles

The French love to decorate with candles for Christmas. The nativity scenes will most times be lit with candles and lighting the room with dozens of candles is a quick and easy way to add a festive mood to any occasion.
Many families in France make a wreath, known as la couronne, which lies flat on the table and holds four red candles. The first candle is lit on the first day of Advent, or the fourth Sunday before Christmas day. Each subsequent Sunday another candle is lit. The four candles are said to represent the four seasons, the four cardinal points, or hope, love, joy and peace. You pick.

Shoes, not Stockings

You've probably seen pictures of clogs, known as sabots here in France, filled with goodies. In many European countries, instead of hanging a stocking in the hopes of Christmas treats, the kids leave out their shoes on Christmas eve.

The Fête de la Chandeleur falls on the same day Americans may celebrate Ground Hog Day. This is a very old holiday that at some point the Catholic Church took under their wing and made into a day for blessing candles and participating in processions.
Many people celebrate by making and eating crêpes as well.

As with many celebrations, the exact origins and meaning of Chandeleur are somewhat confused and lost in history. It is officially forty days after the birth of Christ and the day he was first presented in the temple, a day that is still commemorated by blessing and lighting candles, called chandelles in French.However, people were celebrating the near end of winter long before the Catholic Church took this celebration under its wing. Some say that the crêpe became associated with Chandeleur as it represents the sun and its gradual victory over winter. Others believe that it was the Pope who long ago distributed crêpes to pilgrims arriving in Rome to celebrate Chandeleur.
Whatever the origins, and although for many people the primary activity of Chandeleur is blessing candles and participating in processions, February 2nd is definitely the day to eat crêpes in France.

Some fun traditions and superstitions accompany this feasting:

Depending on where you go in France, you will find different sorts of crêpes. Some fine, some thick, some crispy, some soft, some small, some huge. In the Champagne region they are called tantimolles, in Gascony they are called crupets, and so on all across the country.

Source : Easy French Food.

“La galette des Rois” (the cake or "wafer" of the Kings) is a cake celebrating the Epiphany and traditionally sold and consumed a few days before and after this date. In modern France, the cakes can be found in most bakeries during the month of January. The cake consists of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense center of frangipane.

Tradition holds that the cake is “to draw the kings” to the Epiphany. A figurine, “la fève”, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket in their slice becomes king for the day and will have to offer the next cake. Originally, “la fève” was literally a broad bean (fève), but they were replaced in 1870 by a variety of figurines out of porcelain or - more recently - plastic. These figurines have become popular collectibles and can often be bought separately. Individual bakeries may offer a specialized line of fèves depicting diverse themes from great works of art to classic movie stars and popular cartoon characters.

A paper crown is included with the cake to crown the "king" who finds the fève in their piece of cake. To ensure a random distribution of the cake shares, it is traditional for the youngest person to place themselves under the table and name the recipient of the share which is indicated by the person in charge of the service.

Formerly, one divided the cake in as many shares as guests, plus one. The latter, called "the share of God," "share of the Virgin Mary," or "share of the poor" was intended for the first poor person to arrive at the home.

source : Wikipedia

As the clock strikes midnight on the third Thursday of November, the new vintage of Beaujolais, Beaujolais Nouveau, is released to the world! Over 60 million bottles make the trek to Paris for worldwide distribution, of which Germany is the leading importer. This is a young wine (only 6 weeks old), grown from the Gamay grape, and is very fruity, light-bodied, and virtually tannin-free making for an extremely easy-to-drink red wine. It is best served chilled to really bring the fruit forward and is a popular complement to Thanksgiving dinners, in part due to its annual release date and in part due to its food-friendliness.

According to a French law passed in 1985, Beaujolais Nouveau may not be released earlier than the third Thursday of November. As a result, tradition and custom have set in to make the annual release race of this much loved wine a fun-filled event. Starting with the hand-picking of the grapes in the Beaujolais growing region (part of Burgundy), followed by carbonic maceration, pressing, and fermentation and on to speedy bottling all to culminate in the midnight release on the third Thursday of November.

Next vintners race to see whose Beaujolais Nouveau will be the first to fill the bars and bistros of the world awaiting the new vintage. They have employed all methods of transport as part of the fun and sport ? from trucks to trains, jets to hot air balloons to rush their vintage to the front of the uncorking lines. Banners proclaiming, ?Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!? ? "The New Beaujolais has arrived!" are scattered throughout wine shops, enticing those who are seeking a light-hearted, fruit-filled wine to decorate their holiday tables, and for a mere $6-10 a bottle, the decoration comes fairly cheap!

Beaujolais Nouveau is typically meant to be consumed within the first year of release, certainly not a wine that is intended for aging.

source : About

Bastille Day, the French national holiday, commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on 14 July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis the 16th's Ancient Regime. By capturing this symbol, the people signaled that the king's power was no longer absolute: power should be based on the Nation and be limited by a separation of powers.

Although the Bastille only held seven prisoners at the time of its capture, the storming of the prison was a symbol of liberty and the fight against oppression for all French citizens; like the Tricolore flag, it symbolized the Republic's three ideals: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for all French citizens. It marked the end of absolute monarchy, the birth of the sovereign Nation, and, eventually, the creation of the (First) Republic, in 1792.

Bastille Day was declared the French national holiday on 6 July 1880, on Benjamin Raspail's recommendation, when the new Republic was firmly entrenched. Bastille Day has such a strong signification for the French because the holiday symbolizes the birth of the Republic. As in the US, where the signing of the Declaration of Independence signaled the start of the American Revolution, in France the storming of the Bastille began the Great Revolution. In both countries, the national holiday thus symbolizes the beginning of a new form of government.

On the one-year anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, delegates from every region of France proclaimed their allegiance to a single national community during the Fête de la Fédération in Paris - the first time in history that a people had claimed their right to self-determination.

source : About