Happy November everyone! I hope you are safe and happy wherever you are!
If you have read The Promise of Provence and did not know there were two more books to follow that story, here they are! And on sale for November!
To make it easy for you, here are the links:
I Promise You This, Book Three
Happy reading! Bonne lecture!
Bonne Fête à toutes et tous! The most important national holiday in France is July 14, Quatorze Juillet or La Fête Nationale. On this day, throughout the country, the French celebrate the start of the French Revolution in 1789 when the Bastille was stormed. It is now also an important symbolic celebration where the French values are celebrated: Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood.
Everywhere there are red, white and blue flags and people wear a rosette with those colors as parties are planned. Large tables are set up on the square of each city or village and music is everywhere, often beginning with a military band. Family gatherings can be found throughout the country. In the evening there is dancing, feasting, and controlled fireworks displays.
Since the horrific events in Nice of 2016, when a deranged man drove a truck into the crowd of celebrants with many fatalities, there are solemn commemorations of lives lost.
In Paris the day begins with a massive military parade, including the army, air force and navy, over the Champs Elysées towards the Arc de Triomphe.
La Patrouille de France, part of the French Air Force, is the first to launch a fighter jets’ fly over with a roaring sound, leaving red, white and blue plumes of smoke.
The parade is the oldest and largest in Europe and goes from the Place de l’Etoile across the Champs-Elysées to the Place de la Concorde.
In the evening there is a free concert on the Champs-de-Mars, ending with spectacular fireworks over the Eiffel Tower.
May July 14, 2023 be a safe and joyous day for all in France and wherever you celebrate.
Vive La France!
May 1, 2023 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment (Edit)
Happy May Day!
En France ~ Bonne fête du muguet! Bonne fête du travail! Bon premier Mai! Happy Labor Day! Happy first of May!
In many countries around the world, the first of May is a celebrated Labor Day. In France there’s a special twist to the holiday that I love.
I recycle this post every year because I don’t want to change anything about it. If you read it last year … or the year before , I hope you enjoy it again. And if you can find some Lily of the Valley to give to a friend, all the better.
En mai, fais ce qu’il te plait!
Provençal proverb ~ In May, do what pleases you!
Here’s my May 1st muguet to each of you.
Every May 1st I like to share one of my favourite traditions in France ~ La Fête du Travail or La Fête du Muguet. The day is a national holiday ~ International Workers’ Day, like Labour Day in North America. But more than that it is an occasion when people give little bouquets or sprigs or pots of le muguet (lily of the valley) to each other. Like so many of the things we love about France, the tradition has lasted for centuries. It began in 1561, during the Renaissance.
Click here to read an excellent article by Margo Lestz, about this sweet tradition and all the history behind it.
Here’s another post about the tradition from Kristin Espinasse, everyone’s favourite scribe of daily French life.
A few years ago, my husband and I had just finished a magical stay (but then isn’t it always?) in Paris and the Loire Valley. We were driving south to the Dordogne region on May 1st and in every town, big or small, this was the scene. Even on a drizzly day. I loved it!
Obviously, young or old, everyone puts a lot of thought into this tradition.
A vivid memory of that rainy morning, is of an elderly woman sitting under an umbrella beside her small stand of bouquets of muguets. It wasn’t an appropriate picture to take … and no time to stop in the midst of traffic … but I’ve never forgotten the image. Does this happen to you sometimes when you travel? Your eye is the shutter and a particular image is captured forever in your memory?
Le muguet or lily of the valley represents a porte-bonheur, a good luck charm, to special people in your life. I am offering one to each of you.
Does your culture or country have a special May 1st tradtion?
April 1, 2023
If it’s Friday, it must be France …
Happy April 1st! I hope you enjoy this repost of mine. Some things never change!
Imagine my surprise the first time I was in France on April 1st and found children sticking paper fish on my back, whispering and giggling and then hollering “poisson d’avril”!
Excusez-moi? Fish?
As Wikipedia explains: “In Italy, France and Belgium, children and adults traditionally tack paper fishes on each other’s back as a trick and shout “April fish!” in their local languages (pesce d’aprile!, poisson d’avril! and aprilvis! in Italian, French and Flemish, respectively). Such fish feature prominently on many late 19th- to early 20th-century French April Fools’ Day postcards.
April-Fools-vintage-Image-TheGraphicsFairy.com
I had no idea where the tradition began and, after a bit of searching, found this explanation on France Travel Guide.
“Although the origin of April Fools is obscure and debated, the most widely accepted explanation actually credits the “holiday” as starting in France. The most popular theory about the origin of April Fool’s Day involves the French calendar reform of the sixteenth century.
The theory goes like this: In 1564 King Charles IX of France reformed the calendar, moving the start of the year from the end of March to January 1. However, in a time without trains, a reliable post system or the internet, news often traveled slow and the uneducated, lower class people in rural France were the last to hear of and accept the new calendar. Those who failed to keep up with the change or who stubbornly clung to the old calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25th and April 1st, had jokes played on them. Pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The victims of this prank were thus called Poisson d’avril, or April Fish—which, to this day, remains the French term for April Fools—and so the tradition was born.”
poisson d’avril
Boulangeries and patisseries deliciously get into the spirit with fish-shaped goodies. Oh … and did I mention the chocolatiers? Schools of fish of all sizes fill shop windows, the larger ones often filled with smaller treats. To a chocoholic, fish never tasted so good!
Since Easter usually falls around the same time, fish feature predominantly in shop windows through that holiday as well.
Maybe we should adopt a symbol for April Fool’s Day in North America, so there would be a good excuse to buy special chocolates on that day over here. Not that we ever really need an excuse for chocolate …
Wherever you are, have fun on April 1st and enjoy some chocolate.
My friend, author Margo Lestz, has this tidbit to share on her blog about April 1:
“The annual “April Fish” in Nice, France ~
The city of Nice has its own special April Fool’s joke. Normally there is a cannon shot every day at noon from a hill overlooking the town. (It’s really a firecracker, but it used to be a cannon so they still call it one. You can read more about it here.) This noonday boom alerts the people of Nice that it’s lunchtime and it goes off every day at exactly noon. That is, every day except on April 1st when the “cannon” goes off one hour early and everyone is thrown off schedule. If you are in Nice on April 1st listen carefully after the boom and you might be able to hear a shout from the hilltop – “April Fish!”
Take some time and visit her website, The Curious Rambler, for entertaining posts about traditions and history based on her extensive travels in France, Italy and England.
Are you a prankster on April 1st or do you just grit your teeth and hope the day will pass quickly? Is there one April Fool’s Day joke in particular that you will never forget?
Here’s something that’s no joke! All of the Sail Away series is now available in ebook and paperback. It was great fun to collaborate with seven author friends and write these stories to whisk you across several seas! No surprise, my story LOST AT SEA is set on a Mediterranean cruise. Readers of my books will have a smile when they suddenly see a brief appearance of some beloved characters! Of course there are a few ports of call in France ~ pourquoi pas??? ~ as the cruise goes from Barcelona to Sicily.
Each story has a different vibe as they are all standalone ~ quick, engaging and satisfying reads at around 200 pages each. Put your feet up and enjoy all the cruises!
See you next time! Happy reading!
