Do the French celebrate Halloween?

So, this is a question I get asked a lot – do the French celebrate Halloween? Well, the answer is yes – though it may not be with quite as much vigour as say, the US.

When I first bought my little French house in 2004, Halloween flew by without so much as a flutter here in the sticks where I live in northern France. There were no kids trick or treating, no carved pumpkins on doorsteps, and the shops didn’t make a big thing of it. If you were lucky, you might get a few pumpkin shaped chocolates if you went to one of the bigger towns, but that was about it. Sure, in Paris it was a ‘thing’, there’s even a haunted manor house near the Gare du Nord that puts on a rather scary Halloween themed event. But here where I live, non, nothing.

But over the years, that’s all changed. Lots of shops decorate Halloween style – spiders webs are very popular. We even have trick or treating in my village. The kids don’t really wear costumes, but Madame Bernadette does their face make up and they go round knocking on doors and collecting sweets. It’s a bit more restrained than in some countries.

Ghosts, ghoulies and Halloween in France

One of my neighbours is really into it. The first time I saw his garden decorated for Halloween (top photo), I was just driving home, and I caught sight of a witch on a broom stick hanging up in the shed with pink and red lights swirling around. I pulled the car over to the side of the road to get a better look. Well I’ve never seen anything quite like it. There were lid swinging coffins in the front garden, skeletons popping up over the hedge as you walk past, smoke filled cauldrons, scary clowns pushing prams with Chucky style babies in them, cackling witches – tastefully dressed, this is France after all – and ghostly things hanging and quivering in the trees.

The man who lives there came out and said he encourages everyone to have a look around. Well two of my kids came to stay with us the week after so we took them to see his garden. There were loads of other people all wandering around enjoying the spooky set up, disco music was playing, the coffin lids were opening and shutting, the witches were cackling, the smoke was billowing about like misty magical smog, the kids loved it. But the weird thing was, the family that lived there were sitting in their kitchen eating dinner watching us all, which I found even spookier!

There were, strangely, no pumpkin in sight. They’re not big on pumpkins for Halloween in France, the French prefer to eat them!

Zombie France

In France they are as much into the horror aspect of Halloween than the fun side of things. They like to do things like Zombie walks and zombie parties where everyone dresses up and wears make up, so they look like the living dead for fun! You’ll even find organised zombie walks in towns all over France.

La Toussaint

More traditional to the French than Halloween is La Toussaint, held on 1 November, the day after Halloween, called All Saints Day in English. It’s a national holiday in France, and it’s all about remembering friends and loved ones who are no longer with us. It’s customary to place pots of brightly coloured chrysanthemums on graves in memory of the departed.

There are several legends about how the tradition started but it really goes back to the first anniversary of the end of World War I. The President at the time Raymond Poincaré and our Government asked all French people to put flowers in cemeteries, in memory of all the soldiers. Chrysanthemums were the best choice because of their late flowering and resistance to frost. Over time it became a wider tradition associated with All Saints Day.

More than 25 million pots of chrysanthemums are bought for La Toussaint in France.

Famous ghosts of France

France has some spine-tingling ghost legends, from regal apparitions in Versailles to the moans of the Green Lady in a grand château.

Our up is the majestic Château de Brissac, it’s not only the tallest castle in France – seven stories high – it is known as the ‘giant of the Loire Valley’, but it’s also said to be the most haunted castle in France. It has been in the same family since May 26, 1502, and is still lived in.

Legend has it that a ghost called the Green Lady wanders the castle at night. She was murdered by her husband in the 1400s. Charlotte de Brézé was having an affair and her husband Jacques found out. He ran his sword through his wife and her lover, and it is said that he pinned their souls to the castle walls. Now she roams the halls in a green dress, moaning in sorrow.

I have stayed somewhere that really did feel spooky. And this is absolutely a true story. A couple of years ago I went to Annecy in the Haute Savoie region. It’s a stunningly beautiful town with winding cobbled streets, canals and of course the famous Lake Annecy. That lake is a mesmerising sight let me tell you. The water is turquoise, a bright aquamarine so clear you can see to the bottom. Around the lake are restaurants and hotels including the magnificent Abbaye de Talloires. And I was lucky enough to stay at the Abbey hotel. It’s magnificent. It was built several hundred years ago, but during the French Revolution it was pretty much destroyed. Legend has it that the huge abbey bells still lay at the bottom of the lake. It’s been a gorgeous hotel for a long time now – the artist Cezanne stayed here and the writer Mark Twain.

Anyway, when I was there I was chatting to the manageress about the history and she asked me if I’d like to see one of the special rooms.

“Of course” I said.

So she took me to a room about five doors from mine. She told me that this room which used to be the old priests’ room where they would pray alone, has not been redecorated since 1681. It is stunning. A real time warp and it’s a classified monument in its own right. The walls are lined with frescoes of the Apostles, the ceiling is covered with original paintings of angels and cherubs. It had an almost tangible air of tranquillity.
I told her I’d love to stay in this room, and she told me that though the room is available for guests, they never let a woman stay here on her own. I was surprised because the beds looked comfy and there was an amazing feeling of peacefulness that you get from a really ancient room.

She told me the room has a special atmosphere, quiet and peaceful – but not for everyone. And as she finished saying it, the ancient window shutters that were hanging a little lopsidedly either side of the window overlooking the lake, swung shut with a loud bang. I nearly jumped out of my skin. It’s just the wind the manageress said. And she asked me if I liked the Apostle pictures on the walls. They are stunningly beautiful but they’re strange – all of them seem to be looking to the side or up or down except one which seemed to be looking straight at me and I stared into those eyes and the closed door to the room blew open with a loud bang.

I have to admit the hair on the back of my neck stood up. It’s just the wind the manageress said, and we left the room with the shutters rattling. It was spooky. It did have an atmosphere, but it also felt calm and peaceful and welcoming – and I slept like a baby that night in my room five doors down!

Ghost wooden legs and a phantom horse

Right let’s head to Brittany now and the Chateau de Combourg, a medieval castle where it is said that the ghost of the Count of Combourg walks the stairs. Well not all of him – just his wooden leg! They say you can hear it banging on the stairs, more than 300 years after he died!

Meanwhile, the Château de Sallenôves in Haute-Savoie, has a walled-up room named the ‘Devil’s room’ – which is asking for trouble really isn’t it. They say that from this room can he heard the sound of stamping feet, powerful hooves striking the ground and the sound of rage, a roaring sound – but it’s not the devil doing it. It’s a horse. A ghost horse who haunts the room trying to get out and only stops his noise at the stroke of midnight. It’s said the horse was carrying his mistress when an amorous lord tried to kidnap her, and legend has it that nature saved her by creating a flood which carried her away and the poor horse was left behind and was offered a room in the castle…

Ghosts of Versailles

Now we go to the Palace of Versailles, the bling bling home of Louis XIV and his descendants. This place is said to be inhabited by several phantoms. There is a famous story from the start of the 20th century of two English ladies who met with the ghost of Marie-Antoinette in the gardens of the Petit Trianon. It was August 10, 1901. One of the ladies was a headmistress, the other her assistant. It was a hot day and they finished visiting the main palace rooms and decided to visit the Trianon palace in the gardens.

They got a bit lost and saw two men dressed in green coats and three-cornered hats carrying shovels and asked for directions. Then they saw a man sitting near a Chinese-style kiosk and passed another man who gave them directions. At the Trianon they saw a woman wearing a white hat and an old-fashioned dress. And they had an overwhelming feeling of distress and left. The women were convinced that they had met ghosts including Marie-Antoinette and wrote a book about it. It was a sensation at the time. But not taken seriously by the psychic research institute. It was only 70 years later that it was discovered that there was a Chinese style kiosk at the Trianon in 1774 – but it had long been gone, how could the ladies have known of its existence…

VIP Ghosts

Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have believed in ghosts. He apparently regularly saw an apparition known as The Red Man who is said to have appeared to him several times – at his Coronation, to advise him against invading Russia and then again on the Eve of the Battle of Waterloo. The Red Man is said to have long haunted the Tuileries in Paris. One legend says that he was a henchman known as Jean the Skinner and hired to commit murders for Catherine de Medici. To hide her secrets she is said to have had him killed. It was claimed he appeared to many of France’s ruling elite including Catherine de Medici, Henri IV, Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette at critical moments of their lives, typically just before something horrible was about to happen to them, particularly their death.

Hmm, funny how he never appeared to ordinary people – only VIPs! He must have had the keys to their rooms – spook-key!

One of the most famous ghosts of France is the Phantom of the Opera. A fictional novel by Gaston Leroux told of strange things taking place beneath the foundations of the Opera Garnier. The book featured a vast underground lake with many tunnels leading from it. Unbeknown to Leroux at the time, the reality is that the Opera house is built on top of a vast water tank that still to this day, mysteriously, cannot be drained. It’s rumouored that the firefighters of Paris use it to practice swimming in the dark.

Janine Marsh is the editor of The Good Life France and author of several books about France.