Les Traditions De Pâques – Easter traditions in France

Easter is a religious Catholic holiday, but it is nevertheless celebrated by many families in France, religious or not. As Easter Monday is a national holiday in France, French enjoy three days weekend each Easter. French word for Easter is Pâques, coming from Latin pascua, meaning passover.

One of the biggest traditions of Easter is an Easter egg hunt - Chasse aux Oeufs - similar as in America: Parents hide chocolate or otherwise decorated eggs in a garden or a park and children go on a hunt to look for them. Another tradition is decorating your house with colorful symbols of spring, flowers, decorated eggs or Fritures de Pâques - small fish- shaped chocolates. Also branches are set up with painted eggs hanging from them. However, chocolate shape like bunny is actually a chocolate shaped bell in France! They are often presented with a pair of wings or ribbons and are called Les cloches de Pâques.

Traditional Easter food in France is typically eaten on Easter Sunday and usually it’s a lamb. Probably the most traditional dish is a lamb cooked in the oven with Provence herbs, garlic and olive oil, served with potatoes and green beans. Asparagus is a starter and a bottle of red wine are a must, too. In Alsace, for example, people have their own specialties, such as Lamalas de Pâques - a cake in the shape of a lamb covered in icing sugar.

Chocolate as such is essential during Easter: many bakeries and pâtisseries-chocolateries make chocolate eggs look like a piece of art and pay great amount of detail in creating beautiful chocolate decorations. We hope you are ready to celebrate this upcoming holiday and don’t forget to enjoy some chocolate.

Joyeuses Pâques !

-Dominika, thanks for your contribution!