In France, the calendar celebrates the Christian Easter, which is the death and resurrection of Jesus. For the French, Easter is associated with a public holiday on Monday and chocolate eggs, brought by bells or the Easter bunny depending on the region.

But did you know that French people traditionally eat lamb to celebrate Easter? Or that there are special colors symbolizing Easter?

Learn more with these 25 interesting facts about Easter in France! 🐣

 

The Best Easter in France Facts

Easter is the most important Catholic holiday, thus being a hugely celebrated weekend in France. The country is historically majorly Catholic, and there are lots of facts that you probably don’t know about Easter.

That is exactly why I made a list of the best Easter in France facts: enjoy! 🐇

 

1. April’s Fool is called April Fish in France and happens around Easter

Because April Fool’s Day is on April 1st, and Easter is generally not that far away from it in France, both days are somewhat combined. April’s Fool is called “poisson d’avril” (which means April fish) because children traditionally draw and cut paper fish before trying to stick it on the back of unaware adults. If they succeed they will shout “poisson d’avril!”.

This is linked to Christianity since the fish is the ancient symbol for Christians.

 

2. During the few days of Easter in France, bells generally ring a lot

Whether you are a believer or not, in France, churches are always bringing you joy and setting the mood for the day. During Easter, they are ringing at lots of different times of the day, wherever you are (since there is at least one church per village in France).

However, for Maundy Thursday, they remain silent until the day after Good Friday, as a way to remember the crucifixion.

 

3. Flying bells bring children chocolates in France during Easter

When young children were wondering about the absence of bell ringing a long while ago, their parents told them the story of the flying bells. This legend consists of the bells sprouting wings, and flying as far as the Vatican to visit the Pope. There, he would give them chocolate bells and eggs, for them to bring back to France on Easter morning.

 

3 - easter in france facts about chocolate

 

4. French children love Easter because they get to look for hidden treats

When the flying bells come back to France to bring chocolates to children, they don’t just leave them there, all nicely piled up. Instead, children need to find the hidden chocolates, all around the house (and the garden, if they are lucky to have one).

Parents give their children cute little baskets, and they get to walk all around to try to find every piece of hidden chocolate.

 

4 - french easter facts about egg hunts

 

5. Chocolate is the clear king of Easter in France

This is probably the case in most countries, but the French take chocolate production to a whole new level in preparation for Easter weekend. You can find delicious chocolate in every shop, but the best ones are definitely the “chocolateries”, where the best works can be seen, bought and eaten.

Chocolate takes lots of different intricate forms, mostly animals like bunnies and chickens. A true art!

 

5 - facts about french easter chocolate

 

6. Pastries are also very much appreciated during Easter in France

French “chocolatiers” (chocolate makers) are not the only fine artists whose work you can enjoy (and eat!) for Easter in France.

You can also witness the quality of pastry chefs and their wonderful Elephant ears. The French name has nothing to do with elephants though (“palmiers” meaning palms). In case you do not know what these are, they are puff pastries, very delicate and crunchy, just like a croissant.

 

6 - french palmiers

 

7. Unsurprisingly, the average French Easter meal is very copious

France is reputed to be one of the (if not the) best countries in the world for food. Thus, you will not be surprised to learn how copious the Easter meal is there.

It is dedicated to the seasonal foods of the region, and you will usually eat lamb with white beans. Some families also eat omelet very often, as well as Easter brioche.

 

8. Easter egg roll is a fun game that children love in France

Everyone likes games, especially children. In France, for Easter, they enjoy rolling fresh eggs down a gentle slope. Obviously, they can not break it, and the one who does not break it is the winner.

It was created a long time ago, no one knows exactly when, but what matters is that it was made to symbolize the stone that rolled away from Jesus’ tomb when he rose from the dead.

 

9. There are even organized egg hunts in France

Not only do families and their children hunt for eggs and chocolate in their house and backyards, but there are also organized hunts in France that everyone can participate in.

They resemble a lot the traditional American Easter egg hunts. A huge one happens every year just outside Paris, in the Vaux-le-Vicomte castle. Tens of thousands of eggs are hidden, and families can also participate in other activities like face painting and pony rides.

 

9 - egg hunts during easter in france

 

10. Another game that French children love during Easter is egg toss

Easter is a time of reunion, of family activities and of celebration. Because of that, I wanted to talk about this other game: egg toss.

This is a bit riskier than just rolling the eggs down the slope… because children have to throw uncooked ones in the air! Whoever drops and breaks the egg loses. In some versions, they have to give others a portion of their candy.

 

11. Easter Monday is dedicated to resting in France

This is about the same as for Christmas, and most big celebrations to be honest: French people usually take a whole day to rest after the big holiday, and for Easter that day is Easter Monday.

They usually spend quiet moments together, and eat very lightly because of how heavily they ate the day before.

 

12. A French town celebrates Easter Monday with a 15,000 egg omelet

Omelets are probably one of the most internationally well known French dishes, on top of being some of the quicker and easier ones.

The French town of Bessières takes them to a whole new level during Easter though: the tradition is to cook a 15,000 egg omelet every year! This even gathers 10,000 people and 40 cooks, and it was made in honor of the colossal omelet Napoleon ordered for his troops.

 

13. Easter is said “Pâques” in French

The word “Pâques” has a story behind it. Why is it called this way in French? Because it comes from the Latin “pascha” which means “passover”. This same Latin word also derives from another language: Hebrew. “Pesa” means “passing away”, and it is the name of the Jewish celebration remembering the Exodus out of Egypt.

It is said that it was during this celebration that Jesus rose again.

 

13 - easter bakeries

 

14. There are different articles for different Easters in France

Depending on what celebration you are referring to, you will need to use different articles for Easter in France.

The most common one you will hear is “Pâques”, plural, without any article. This one refers to the Christian celebration of Easter, and is what the majority of people, including non-believers, use. There is also “La Pâque” (singular, feminine), referring to the Jewish Passover.

Read more: Learn more about French language

 

15. Spring break is called Easter break in France

French children are quite lucky, because not only do they have 2 months of holidays during summer, but they also have a 2-week holiday for around every 6 weeks of school: this means they have a break in October, December, February and April.

The latter is called “Easter break”, or “les vacances de Pâques”, and differs depending on where you are in France.

Read more: Discover more about French schools

 

15 - french easter holidays

 

That’s it for the best 15 interesting French Easter facts…. Wait, did I say 15? Oh yes, because there are 10 more of them, coming right up. 👇

 

More French Easter Facts

Easter in general is so fascinating, and there are so many different ways to celebrate depending on the regions and on the countries that I just could not stop after only 15 facts.

Here, have 10 more of them! 🐰

 

16. A few people in France have an Easter bunny

While almost everyone celebrates Easter with the flying bells I already told you about, some places in France actually have a bunny, which is more popular internationally.

In Alsace for instance, in the far east of France, you will always hear about a bunny rather than bells. This is because the bunny is a Germanic tradition, celebrating the goddesses of spring.

 

16 - easter in alsace

Easter bunnies in Alsace

17. There is an explanation behind why there are eggs for Easter in France and everywhere

The first version involves Mary Magdalene, who brought cooked eggs to share with women around the tomb of Jesus. Her eggs miraculously changed to brilliant red when she approached Christ.

Eggs would also represent the boulder of the tomb of Jesus. It could also come from the fact that it was forbidden to eat eggs during Lent, so people had to eat them quickly for Easter.

 

18. Lamb is traditionally eaten for Easter in France

For Christians, Easter is the symbol of Jesus’ rise from death to life. Jesus is therefore identified with the Jewish sacrificial lamb, and in the Apocalypse he is also represented by a lamb.

In general, the lamb is the symbol of new life, during Spring time. The French table gathers lively guests and beautiful flowers, mostly green and yellow. Many people also use eggs as a decoration.

 

19. There is the Holy Week in France before Easter

Catholics not only celebrate Easter, but there is also the Holy Week before that, as well as Lent for the 40 days before Easter. The Holy Week, just like in every other Catholic country, is dedicated to the Passion of Christ.

The three days of the Easter weekend are the major point of the Catholic religion for all the year, because it was then that Christ vanquished death and restored life.

 

20. Children prepare Easter in advance in their schools in France

In French schools, the tradition is for children to prepare Easter a bit in advance. Even if the celebration is religious, every school (though they are secular in France) has their children cutting, coloring and crafting cute paper decorations.

In general, they create greeting cards, bells, bunnies, chicks but most importantly Easter eggs, decorated with their favorite colors.

 

20 - easter in school

 

21. The colors of French Easter are yellow, gold, white and green

Because Easter takes place at the beginning of Spring, it seems natural that its colors are very fresh: the grass turns green, the buds start to appear and the flowers slowly come out.

Yellow, gold, white and green are the colors of Easter in France, and they are all very sunny ones. They symbolize light, joy, victory, glory and peace.

 

22. Easter is taken to a whole new level in Alsace, France

I have already told you about the very Germanic region of Alsace, in eastern France. Not only do they have bunnies in their folkloric legends, but they also have splendid Easter decorations that you can rarely see somewhere else in France.

All the houses are decorated, and the atmosphere as a whole is very joyful. Residents paint their eggs themselves, children make nests and all of that is displayed on tables or on the edge of the window for passers-by to admire!

 

23. There are tons of Easter brioches in France

Orange blossom cakes are very appreciated during French Easter, you can eat all sorts of them all around the country. The “brioche vendéenne” is probably the best example of them.

There are also other ones, like the “Suisse” (Swiss) in Valence, the “cornuelle” in the region of Charente and the “fouace” in Rouergue.

 

23 - easter bread

 

24. French people love small chocolate fishes for Easter

Everything is chocolate and chocolate is king during all the Easter periods in France.

The “fritures de Pâques” are another type of chocolate with a very surprising shape: they look like the actual “fritûres”, which are very small fish in huge quantities. If you want to try some, you can find them in supermarkets, but I would advise you to buy them from a “chocolaterie”.

 

25. The French are crazy about chocolate, even more during Easter

How could I talk about Easter in France without mentioning chocolate at least ten times?

The average French eats around 4.3 kg / 8.8 lbs of chocolate every year, making France the ninth-largest chocolate consumer in the whole world. The first ones remain the Swiss, with 8.8 kg / 19.4 lbs of chocolate.

 

25 - easter chocolate

 

So there you have them, these were all my 25 interesting facts about French Easter. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.

In case you want to learn more about the rest of the country, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about. 🔎

 

More Facts!

Want to learn more facts about France?

Well, I have other France facts posts I’m sure you’ll love reading!

Here is the main guide of the best France facts 👉 The 60 Best Facts about France

Check out these France facts by city:

Or these French facts by region:

You can also check these French facts by topic: 

Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.

 

The Full List of 25 Easter in France Facts

  1. April’s Fool is called April Fish in France and happens around Easter
  2. During the few days of Easter in France, bells generally ring a lot
  3. Flying bells bring children chocolates in France during Easter
  4. French children love Easter because they get to look for hidden treats
  5. Chocolate is the clear king of Easter in France
  6. Pastries are also very much appreciated during Easter in France
  7. Unsurprisingly, the average French Easter meal is very copious
  8. Easter egg roll is a fun game that children love in France
  9. There are even organized egg hunts in France
  10. Another game that French children love during Easter is egg toss
  11. Easter Monday is dedicated to resting in France
  12. A French town celebrates Easter Monday with a 15,000 egg omelet
  13. Easter is said “Pâques” in French
  14. There are different articles for different Easters in France
  15. Spring break is called Easter break in France
  16. A few people in France have an Easter bunny
  17. There is an explanation behind why there are eggs for Easter in France and everywhere
  18. Lamb is traditionally eaten for Easter in France
  19. There is the Holy Week in France before Easter
  20. Children prepare Easter in advance in their schools in France
  21. The colors of French Easter are yellow, gold, white and green
  22. Easter is taken to a whole new level in Alsace, France
  23. There are tons of Easter brioches in France
  24. French people love small chocolate fishes for Easter
  25. The French are crazy about chocolate, even more during Easter

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