Until Valentine's Day in France are 293 days, ie 9 months and 17 days.
In 2025 Valentine's Day in France is on February 14th (friday).
Saint Valentin- a celebration of the holiday of lovers in France
Celebrating Valentine's Day in France is different than in the USA. Research conducted among the French in 2022 shows that 60% of respondents consider this holiday too commercialized.
How do the French spend the holidays of lovers?
Above all, the French are famous for their sophistication. Celebrations of the holidays are popular but are approached differently than in the US or the UK. The French like to tease and tell themselves jocular malice, which they describe with the word "chérie". They spend the lovers' holiday by having a romantic dinner at home or in a restaurant. Visits to the cinema are also very popular. The gifts given on this occasion are usually symbolic. They understand Valentine's Day as a holiday only for couples. As a rule, gifts are not given to people who are only liked or respected.
Lupercalia- pagan holidays of Rome
Before February 14 was made Valentine's Day, there was a holiday in the territory of the Roman Empire called Lupercalia. During these holidays, people mated in pairs and performed rituals in honour of the god of fertility. The priests who celebrated the feast were called Luperki. Dressed in the skins of animals that had been sacrificed previously, they struck the women with thongs (febua). It was a fertility ritual.
Christianity
Since the Roman Empire extended to the territory of today's France, which was called Gaul, Lupercalia was also celebrated there. With the change of mentality, the festival began to scandalize some people. It disturbed also Pope Gelasius I, who decided to establish a holiday to replace pagan celebrations. The holiday, established by the pope, was a memory of St. Walenty, who conducted unusual anti-government activities.
The personage of Saint Valentine
A doctor and a clergyman secretly wedded soldiers. Why secretly? The then-emperor, Claudius II, believed that military men should not marry because having a wife reduces their combat ability. When Saint Valentine's activity was discovered, he was imprisoned in a cell and then executed on February 14, 270. Before his death, Valentine met a blind girl who regained his sight during the relationship. Before saint Valentine died, he left her a note, under the text of which he signed: "your Valentine". The saint was buried on the Flamian Way in Rome, near the place of his execution.
Old customs related to the celebration of Valentine's Day
The custom of giving flowers to women on Saint Valentine's Day was introduced by the daughter of the King of France, Henry IV. She held a feast during which she ordered men to give flowers to their women. What about single women?... In ancient France, the Roman custom of auspices was cultivated on the day of lovers. It was fortune-telling, related to bird watching (Latin avis specio). The appearance of a specific species of bird on a given day was to symbolize the characteristics of a man who would become a woman's husband.
The first Valentine's Day card comes from France
As we know, the first Valentine was written by Saint Valentine himself. The first card, inspired by a romantic doctor, was written by Charles, Duke of Orleans. After he was captured during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, he was placed in the famous Tower Prison in London. The first line of the letter read: "Je suis déjà d'amour Tanne. Ma très douce Valentinée" (I am already sick with love, my very delicate Valentine). " As we can see, he called his wife Valentine. It had a completely different name, but it was a reference to the famous card that Saint Valentine left his love. Letters of love, the so-called "cartes des amities", often decorated with hearts and cupids, are an important element of French culture.
Une d'amour lotteries: the forbidden custom of celebrating on February 14
There was an interesting custom in France before the era of the Saint Valentine festival. Men walked the streets of towns and villages shouting at the windows of their houses. If a woman responded to this type of, often accidental, advance, she would become the man's chosen one. The latter, however, could change his mind, and the scorned woman had the right to take revenge. It was customary for unwanted women to gather and set up a fire to ostentatiously burn images of men who did not want them. As you can guess, this habit caused a lot of unhealthy emotions and provoked conflicts. After all, its cultivation was banned by the French government.