A couple of days ago, my friend Jud told me: "you know this weekend is la chandeleur. I would like to have a little thingie at home to celebrate." I immediately accepted the invitation as it involved eating crêpes and share a nice bottle of red wine with my two best friends.
On my way to Jud's house tonight, I almost crashed into a tree when I realised... "But... isn't la Chandeleur some time in February?". Yes it is. I looked in my rearview mirror. Close up. Two black stripes. Thriller.
Today is actually la Galette des rois - understand "the King's Pudding". In Spain the three Kings bring presents to children. In France, they bring another excuse to eat (a frangipane cake on this specific occasion). Tradition says that the yougest person has to hide under the table and decides who will get which slice of the cake, while someone else serves. The one who gets the charm hidden in the frangipane gets a crown and chooses his queen or her king - that only happens if the winner does not have to run to a dentists'. It usually is (relatively) amusing.
As French people would use any pretext to give up working for a day, eat, drink or party, they forget what they are actually celebrating.
The funniest thing is that yesterday, believe it or not, I received that text from another friend: "We are going to eat some crêpes tomorrow. Are you coming?".
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