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CHRISTMAS

Why is Christmas a holiday in secular France?

France is a secular republic and has laws in place to ensure that religion plays no part in the state - so how come the Christian festival of Christmas is a public holiday?

Published: 21 December 2022 13:49 CET
Why is Christmas a holiday in secular France?
A fan dressed up as Santa Claus holds a French national flag (Photo by ABDESSLAM MIRDASS / AFP)

Even though France is known for being a secular state – where public officials cannot wear religious signs, religious clothes and symbols are banned in schools, and displays of religion are not allowed in public institutions – Christmas is still a public holiday.

During the Christmas holiday season, it would not be uncommon to see a large Christmas tree in front of a town hall – or even inside of a school building – which might seem contrary to the principle of laïcité (secularism).

December 25th is also a public holiday, and schools take a two-week break over Christmas. And it’s not the only one, in fact roughly half of France’s 11 public holidays (or 13 if you’re in Alsace) represent Catholic events.

The reason for this is essentially one of practicality.

The law around laïcité (secularism) was formally codified in 1905 and by the time there was already a fairly fixed calendar of holidays and festivals. The idea of suddenly getting rid of popular festivals, like Christmas, would go down pretty poorly with the population at large, so the politicians at the time didn’t suggest it.

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: What does laïcité (secularism) really mean in France?

The same principle has remained – in essence, French politicians are reluctant to take away vacation days from the French, although several secular holidays have been added to the calendar since then, including May 1st which became a public holiday in 1919, Armistice Day to commemorate World War I and Victory in Europe Day after World War II.

A long-standing tradition

People in what is now France have celebrated a winter festival for thousands of years and several ‘Christmas’ traditions actually pre-date the birth of Christ. Christmas trees find their roots in antiquity, when Romans decorated the interior of their homes with evergreen branches to symbolise life, while the Bûche de Noël references the pagan festival of Yule.  

Some French Christmas traditions may have begun with religious origins, and have transformed to become more secular over time.

The traditional seafood platter originally comes from the Catholic tradition of abstaining from eating meat during holy periods such as Lent, but these days is mostly simply eaten for enjoyment.

READ MORE: Why do the French eat so much seafood at Christmas?

Although Christmas of course has its roots in the Christian festival marking the birth of Jesus, it’s common in France for people of different faiths or no faith to still celebrate the time of year by visiting family, swapping gifts and donning a Christmas jumper.

State secularism

But even though Christmas is a public holiday in France, there are still rules of secularism that apply and like all laïcité rules, they apply to state buildings such as schools, town halls and government offices but not to private businesses like shops, public highways, private homes or churches.

Within state buildings lights, “happy holidays” (Joyeuses Fêtes) banners, and Christmas trees are allowed – because they are not viewed as overt signs of religion – but nativity scenes and cribs are not permitted.

For those with kids in French schools, you may have noticed that there are no Nativity plays at this time of year, for the same reason.

The Christmas crib tends to draw controversy every year, particularly from those on the political right in French politics.

READ MORE: Explained: Why are Christmas cribs a political issue in France?

Most recently, the head of France’s right-wing party Les Républicains, Éric Ciotti tweeted an image of a nativity scene with the caption: “Magnificent crib in the hall of the Alpes-Maritimes département [local government office], to keep our traditions alive. Let’s be proud of our roots!”

He follows in the footsteps of many other politicians – mostly far-right mayors – who have erected Christmas cribs in town halls in deliberate defiance of the laïcité rules.

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PARIS

What is ‘Paris Syndrome’ and are some nationalities more susceptible?

In the 40 years since it was first documented, psychiatrists have argued over whether it can truly be classified as an illness and whether certain nationalities are more vulnerable - here's your guide to 'Paris syndrome' (and how to avoid it).

Published: 27 May 2024 11:23 CEST
What is 'Paris Syndrome' and are some nationalities more susceptible?

What is Paris Syndrome?

Let’s start with the good news, it’s not infectious and there are no recorded fatalities.

Paris Syndrome is generally described as a culture shock experienced when foreigners arrive in Paris – it mostly affects tourists but can also be a problem for people who have moved here to live. It’s generally described as the shock experienced by people who have an idealised notion of Paris once they arrive and realise that it is just a city like any other – with crime, traffic, litter and other problems (along with a lot of good stuff, we should point out).

For most people this would simply be disappointing, but for some the shock is so severe that they can suffer from serious psychiatric symptoms.

Paris-based clinical psychologist Olivia Goto-Gréget told Le Parisien: “We can’t really speak of a pathology, but there are a number of well-documented symptoms, ranging from anxiety to malaise, which can sometimes lead to hallucinations or paranoid ideas.”

Other psychiatrists have reported panic attacks and delusional behaviour in people suffering from the syndrome.

The syndrome was first described in the 1980s by Hiroaki Ota, a Japanese psychiatrist based at the Hôpital Sainte-Anne in Paris’ 14th arrondissement.

He described seeing patients suffering from anxiety, depression, panic attacks and delusions, saying: “The disappointment linked to contact with the everyday reality [of Paris] is a factor in symptoms of incomprehension and anxiety, but also of disillusionment and depression.”

Although Paris Syndrome is the most widely reported, psychiatrists in countries including Italy and India have reported similar phenomena.

What causes it?

Most experts agree that it’s caused by a gulf between expectations and reality – it’s not that Paris is any worse than any other big city, it’s that people often have a highly romanticised view of it.

The city of Paris itself is definitely guilty of leaning in to this unreal vision, with its marketing suggesting that the entire city is clean, calm, well ordered and very romantic (a lot of marketing to tourists either implicitly or explicitly implies that you’re highly likely to have a love affair with a hot local on your visit).

TV shows and films are also often guilty of this, with Netflix hit Emily in Paris providing a highly idealised view of the life of a typical Paris-dweller.

However, there’s also a more general culture shock that can be difficult for visitors, especially non-Europeans.

“Waiting to be served on a café terrace, doing la bise [the French double-cheek kiss] shouting and crowds in the Metro – these are common in Paris, but are not always understood by some foreigners. They equate it with aggressive behaviour. Some visitors, particularly Japanese, still find it difficult to adapt to the French environment,” Goto-Gréget.

It’s also possible that someone might simply be being rude and aggressive towards you – that does happen in Paris despite progress in improving the city’s famously unhelpful service.

Are certain nationalities more vulnerable?

Paris Syndrome was initially thought to disproportionately affect Japanese tourists, but it’s now thought to be more widespread.

Hiroaki Ota, who first documented it, reported that most of his patients were Japanese, but Stéphane Quilichini, a French psychiatrist who has written about this syndrome, suggests that it’s likely that was simply because the psychiatrist was Japanese himself, spoke Japanese and was therefore a logical point of contact for suffering Japanese tourists.

Quilichini told Le Parisien that in his experience “we are all equal when it comes to pathology” but notes that non-French speakers are more likely to be affected.

He believes that the most likely indicator is having a history of psychiatric illness.

His colleague Goto-Gréget agrees, saying: “If there is a vulnerability, that can be reawakened abroad. Where people no longer benefit from the protection of their country or language.”

How to avoid it

They key to Paris syndrome appears to be a culture shock or disappointed expectations, so the more realistic the picture you have of Paris, the better.

This applies both to tourists and people who come to Paris to live – if you’re crippling shy you won’t suddenly become confident and outgoing in Paris; if you’ve been struggling to write your novel for 10 years it won’t magically come together just because you move cities; and a lifelong passionate romance with a sexy Frenchman/Frenchwoman is not guaranteed to everyone who spends more than a fortnight in the city.

Also, eating pain au chocolat and drinking wine will not magically make you slim – the slim Parisians are usually that way because they eat healthily and exercise.

Sorry. But it’s to be prepared.

READ ALSO How Parisians really stay in shape

There are a few things that you can do to prepare you for the real Paris – reading news sites about France (The Local, for example) will give you a good idea of the issues of the day, as will listening to podcasts made by people based here (The Local has the Talking France podcast, but there are lots of other options in English).

Romantic films about Paris are fun to watch, but don’t use them as research – we’ve put together a list of 9 TV series that will give you a more realistic view of modern France.

If you know anyone living in Paris, talk to them in advance about what the city is really like – not only will they give you helpful tips (bring comfortable shoes, avoid the Champs-Elysées) they will help prepare you for the real Paris. If you don’t have contacts here, you could try joining a couple of ‘expat’ groups on Facebook or other social media to see what people are talking about.

But don’t be put off visiting – here at The Local we all live in Paris and we love it, we also think the real city is a lot more exciting and interesting than the reheated romantic clichés . . .

READ ALSO The 10 best things about Paris that the movies never show

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