Les Français et la Fête

It's amazing to realise just how many reasons to celebrate the French can come up with in a single year!  In addition to the usual festivities of Christmas and Easter we've added many others such as the Epiphany and its traditional “Galette des Rois”, Candlemas and Mardi-Gras  both with heaps of pancakes, Carnival, May the first with lily of the valley everywhere in town and many, many others...
  

The French celebrate mothers and fathers, and also grandmothers and grandfathers and even neighbours and girls who reach the ripe old age of 25 who are still single, les Catherinettes! As if that wasn't an old fashion concept in itself, if bachelorettes decide to mark this occasion, they are expected to go to work wearing a fancy hat.

Not to be outdone, the French also adopt other countries’ festivities without blinking.  Any excuse to throw a party!  Halloween that old Gaelic feast, became French (again) recently as well as American, St Patrick’s Day is not to be missed either.  

The French also celebrate their 
Patron Saint’s name, receiving a card & present just as they do on their birthday. Far from being very devout these days, they still wouldn't miss any of the Catholic holidays on the calendar as to make “le pont” (create “a bridge”) between the day of the week they happen & the nearest weekend!      
None of that Bank holiday Monday business we get here in the UK which only allow for a three-day long weekend, not if you can make last to five days!!!And there are so many festivals all around the year and all over France that you’d better check first before you book your holiday if you want to find a hotel room or don’t want to be stuck on the roads with another few millions French drivers.  
The biggies are Bastille Night, August 15^th or November 1st. You’ve been warned!

On the other hand you will never forget La Fête de la musique in Paris (and throughout France) in June, Les Voix de la Méditerranée in Lodève or La nuit des Chimères in Le Mans in July, the Fête de jardins in Paris in September, the Nuit blanche in Paris in October, the “Carnaval” of  Dunkerque or Nice in February ,  Bastille Night anywhere, to name but a very few.

At our latest French on your plate workshop we prepared lovely Easter treats and people left with bags full of “Florentines” and “Biscottis” as well as portions of the scrumptious “brioche de Pâques”. All enjoyed a beautifully delicious “Buffet campagnard au vin des Pays de la Loire” with an “Ecrasé d’aubergines” and a “Salade composée”.

Join us in May when we shall go back to “travelling” up and down a region  and that will be to one of the most appealing parts of France: Provence. This time we will learn (almost) all there is to know about the Lavender country.  Numbers limited as usual so book now.  This will be the last “French on your plate” workshop before the summer.

See you on May 5th at Cook's Barn!