EASTER. Egg hunts, masses or getaways in the purest Easter tradition, we have selected for you the best Easter activities in Paris, Île-de-France, as well as in Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg or Bordeaux.
[Updated March 26, 2024 at 2:15 p.m.] The magic of Easter operates in Paris as in the provinces. As of Sunday March 31, 2024, while little ones will be able to look forward to searching for the famous chocolate eggs and rabbits, adults will not be left out with numerous activities. For practicing Catholics, Easter is celebrated in the most beautiful churches. In Paris, the Sacré-Coeur basilica in Montmartre celebrates Holy Week with masses and vespers held from Palm Sunday to Easter Monday. On Good Friday, stations of the cross are organized during Holy Week in around forty churches in the capital.
For those who want to have fun this Easter, the Foire du Trône, the largest funfair in Europe, has opened its doors. And if you want to shake up tradition, why not take part in a game of escape game with friends? Celebrate Easter in Paris but not only! In the region, large parks, zoos or castles open their doors to you. If you take a trip to Alsace, celebrate Easter in the purest tradition in Colmar, with its markets and artisan exhibitions. Find all our original ideas below, and our best egg hunt addresses below:
Sunday March 31, 2024, Easter means family egg hunts in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse or Strasbourg... If you are in Paris, Secours populaire is organizing a solidarity egg hunt in the André Citroën park, in the 15th arrondissement of the capital. The hunting license costs 6 euros. Many other activities are organized and accessible thanks to this same permit. In Lyon, a gigantic egg hunt is organized at the Grand Parc Miribel Jonage on March 31 and April 1, 2024, but also from April 6 to 21, 2024 with an independent treasure hunt by reservation. Near Toulouse, the Gouffre de Padirac is organizing a large egg hunt six feet underground. Also in the region, at the Château de Merville, located northwest of Toulouse, the largest boxwood labyrinth in Europe is organizing a gigantic treasure hunt on Easter. There will be nearly 100,000 eggs to find.
In Marseille, the most courageous adventurers are invited to La Barben Zoo to take part in a huge Easter egg hunt. While many chocolates are up for grabs, a big surprise is promised to whoever manages to get their hands on the golden egg! Not far from Marseille, in Lambesc, a free 1,000 egg hunt is also organized by COFALS on April 1st. As at Merville Castle, Grimmland Park organizes extraordinary egg hunts all weekend long, in an atmosphere reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel. In Bordeaux and its surroundings, several egg hunts are also organized. There are in particular those of the Mérignac Town Hall park on Saturday March 30, 2024. In Strasbourg and its surrounding areas, several egg hunts also take place. In Marmoutier in particular, it will be possible to participate in the egg hunt organized by the Maurirock association on Monday April 1st.
Easter Sunday takes place on March 31, 2024, followed by the Easter Monday public holiday on April 1. How is the date of Easter scheduled each year? For a long time, Christians celebrated Easter at the same time as the Jewish Passover, which could fall on a Sunday as well as a Monday or Saturday. Jewish Passover is in fact calculated on the lunar calendar (the month begins with the new moon) and falls on Nissan 15, the first month of the year, straddling March and April. But in 325, the ecumenical council of Nicaea decided that Easter must henceforth take place on a Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection. To do this, he established a clever calculation known as “Comput”. Easter Day is set on the first Sunday after the full moon following the first day of spring... Like Ascension or Pentecost, Easter is therefore a movable feast, celebrated between March 22 and April 25. Another difference: For Orthodox people who use the Julian calendar and not the Gregorian calendar, spring arrives on April 3, not March 20 or 21. Each year, Orthodox Easter (which is also used in the singular) is therefore celebrated a few days later.
Easter Sunday, the end of Lent, marks the end of a period of food deprivation for practitioners. In the past, this tradition was more respected than today. And during the 40 days of fasting, the devotees did not eat eggs. At the end of the period, the believers offered each other the productions of their chickens that they had accumulated. Eggs that could be decorated, as early as the Renaissance. As for chocolate, it first appeared in eggshells before all-chocolate eggs emerged in the first half of the 19th century. Since then, helped a little by marketing, chocolate eggs have become the symbol of Easter in the collective unconscious, as are the Epiphany pancake or Candlemas pancakes.
