I'm finishing up Christmas cards this afternoon, and I think I may have found one neat thing about the holidays in France compared to the States.
Last year I got a bit behind sending out cards (kind of like this year too), so I made sure to buy cards that said "Bonne Année" instead of "Joyeux Noël" but with Christmas-y images of trees and ornaments to make up the difference. That way the cards do both, but I figure it's okay to receive a Christmas card in early January if it is wishing you a Happy New Year.
This year while I was picking up some new cards, I noticed that actually all the cards say "Bonne Année" or "Meilleurs Voeux", and there were no packs of cards with "Joyeux Noël". I looked up to the top of the spinning card display and the sign indicated "Cartes de Noël".
How funny though that cards labeled 'Christmas' actually wish you a Happy New Year. And then I realized "Duh, in France the mayors and club presidents send their "New Years Wishes". They don't host Christmas parties!" No one displays the cards they receive, but they do wish everyone a Happy New Year*.
So the one good thing is not the lack of Christmas parties, but rather that the nature of Christmas cards in France makes it okay to be behind and send them after Christmas or even in early January.
*My aunt-in-law (?) sent a French Christmas card to my parents last year and didn't understand why she didn't get a response. When I asked my mom about it she said "Oh, but it wasn't a Christmas card, it was a Happy New Years card, so we thought we didn't need to reply."
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