Would you do Xmas in France?
 

I will be in Europe for Xmas with husband and 2 children(11 and 16) Not sure where to spend Xmas or New Year.Any thoughts?I am from Australia.

You're wondering about spending the holiday in France as opposed to...?
And you want to spend the holiday by...
(dining out, partying hard, going to church, watching fireworks...?)

Every year I go to Europe the day after our American Thanksgiving holiday or the last Friday of November until December 21. I spend a couple weeks or more on the Riviera and then I go to Colmar, France and then a couple German towns to enjoy the Christmas markets. The Christmas market at Colmar is great as it is scattered throughout the entire center of town area. With the half-timbered buildings and the ancient Alsace costumes and the food and merchandise stalls it makes for a really nice experience. This past year I also spent a couple days at Freiburg, Germany and Heidelberg, Germany for the Christmas markets. This year I will do Colmar, Strasbourg in France and then Nurenberg, Germany. After this I always do about 5 days in Paris before going home. There are always a few nice Christmas markets in Paris as well and I always spend a day at Rouen, France (St.Joan of Arc execution site) where there is also a nice Christmas market.

If you choose to do Colmar and Strasbourg during the Christmas season and especially on the weekends you need to book your hotels very very early; like now.

Larry J

You may want to research these Christmas markets yourself and consider spending some time doing this also. I really enjoy it.

We would and we do, and we haven't entirely resolved the question of what to do on Christmas day. A church service, often. We also commonly invite other folks who may be at loose ends to a sit-down meal, late breakfast or dinner. We're fortunate to be included in a portion of in a French family's celebration around mid-day before they visit relatives. Otherwise, in the evening, we may go to a movie.

I have never actually been in France on Christmas, but my impression is that Christmas Eve and Day are actually very private sort of family-oriented celebrations, so unless you have some family there, it might be a non-starter.
On the other hand, as Larry mentions, the "Germanic" parts of France do a lot of celebrating of Christmas, with markets and such. I've been to the Christmas Market in Strasbourg three times, albeit in late November and early December, never on Christmas itself, and had a blast.The atmosphere is very celebratory.
As for Christmas Day itself, unless you had friends or relatives, I think you'd have to be very creative to find ways to pass the day.

Thankyou to all who answered.I am not so concerned with the actual Xmas day more the spirit of the place up to Xmas day-carolers,atmosphere,festivities -that sort of thing.
Its hot in Australia so we go to the beach then chuck some prawns on the barbie!Iwant my kids to experience some Xmas magic.

In Paris, the run-up to Christmas is perhaps less exciting (and less commercial) than it is in America. However, the Christmas shopping is great! The American church does a Christmas eve service with loads of caroling. The windows of the large department stores, Galeries LaFayette and Printemps, with their animated puppet displays are a "must see." It's a treat just to take a city bus at this time of year, when it's dark during late business hours, and you can look into shop windows. And there's warm wine in a cafe!

We are a family with 2 teens 13 and 17 and we just spent the week before Xmas in Paris. We LOVED it! While it was cold (so cold we had to buy a down coat for one of the kids), we LOVED the Paris Xmas markets full of artisanal items, street food vendors, etc. We appreciated the non-commercial atmosphere and loved the buche de noel in every patisserie. We went to the circus on Xmas day afternoon without much trouble. We had more trouble finding a restaurant for Xmas eve than we did Xmas day. We had a great time, highly recommend it.

My mother and I did Christmas in Paris this year.

We actually went to DLP for Christmas Day. Saw the nice Christmas parade and had lunch there. I think we could have stayed in Paris without any problem however.

Next year I am thinking about Vienna any suggestions?

I have been for New Year's in Paris only. But judging from that I feel the holidays are extra special in France and in Europe in general--nice atmosphere.

I only know about Paris at Christmas (not the rest of France), but there's plenty to do there. To see what was going on last year, look here:

http://www.metropoleparis.com/2004/951/951noel.html

and here for New Year's:
http://www.metropoleparis.com/2004/951/951nyear.html

We were there at Christmas 2003 and loved it.