La Fête du Travail...

Finally found something that sounds better in English than in French- Lily-of-the-Valley, or muguet (moo-gey) as it's called en français. Happy May Day!

Very superstitieux...

According to a recent article in Le Figaro, the number of French people who admit to being superstitious is on the rise.

The big marketing and poll-taking group, TNS Sofres, has recently published their poll or sondage results which say that 41% of the French population consider themselves to be superstitous.

Apparently, admitting to being superstitious in France used to be considered taboo. I don't know if it was a religious or philosophical thing, but it just wasn't the 'done' thing to publically show one's superstitions. Voltaire said that 'Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy; the mad daughter of a wise woman'.

I guess nobody really wants to be considered mad if they can help it.

The report says that it's the younger part of the population, ages 15-34 that are the most superstitous. Maybe it has to do with a decrease in religious faith, or the desire to have something, anything, to believe in, I don't know.

Most of the signs of bad luck and things that bring good luck are similar in France and the States. A four-leaf clover (le trèfle à quatre feuilles), a shooting star (une étoile filante), to knock on wood (toucher du bois), all good things. Black cats, walking under ladders, breaking mirrors, not so good.

Some interesting French superstitions include never placing the bread upside down on the table, never lighting 3 cigarettes with one match, and not wearing new clothes on a Friday, and particularly not vendredi 13. Stepping in dog poo with the left food is a good thing, and so is touching the red pompom of a béret d'un marin.

My superstitions are rather junvenial, I know, like making a wish when the clock says 11.11, or lifting my feet when I drive over railroad tracks. But I never hesitate walking under a ladder if I have to, and black cats have never spooked me. I don't, however, have a good luck charm, or grigris. Sarkozy is rumored to keep a four-leaf clover with his papers, and Andre Agassi used to use the same towel during his matches. Maybe that's what my life is missing....

How about you? Are you superstitious? Are there things you avoid doing or that make you feel unlucky? Do you have a lucky charm? Doing anything special this Friday the 13th?

The Crêpe vs. The Groundhog...

It's La Chandeleur today, which means it's crêpe eating day in France. Not that you really ever need an excuse to eat crêpes here, but doing so today could bring your family prosperity for the coming year.

And like Groundhog day in the States, the weather conditions today could predict whether or not we have to suffer a longer winter or are just weeks away from an early Spring. Here are some old sayings related to La Chandeleur:

A la Chandeleur, l'hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur.

Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte.

Rosée à la Chandeleur, hiver à sa dernière heure.

Si le jour de la Chandeleur il fait beau, il y aura du vin comme de l'eau.

It's pretty gray and rainy today, but warm, so your guess is as good as mine what that means. I'm pretty sure there won't be any shadow spotting today though.

So I'll make the little ladies some crêpes for lunch, although traditionally I think you are supposed to eat them after 8 pm. You are also supposed to hold a coin in one hand while you flip the crêpe in the pan with the other hand. If you have a successful flip, you are in the money, apparently. If it lands on the floor, you might as well just go ahead and file for bankruptcy.

Not sure how the coin flipping will come into my crêpe making though. As you can see in the photo, I'm a cheat crêpe maker. I use a gadget which produces 6 small but perfectly formed crêpes at the same time. The flipping part isn't quite as treacherous as it would be if you were using a pan, so I'm not at the same risk of losing the crêpe on the floor. Will it still count?

I'd much rather be eating crêpes today than standing out in a prairie waiting for a groundhog to appear, and I'm hoping the whole flipping prophecy is a little more reliable than depending on the fickle temperament of a fuzzy rodent.

But I think it's my duty as an American in France to invent a tradition which combines the two holidays. Like saying if the groundhog can come out of his hole and whip up a batch of crêpes, then summer will start immediately.

Or maybe I could perfect a recipe for groundhog flavored crêpes...

In and around the dukedom....

Lots going on here around the dukedom, with the weather finally shaking off its winter clothes and making a bee line for the beach. Spring has been a little hesitant this year, with the arrival of the walking English megaphone and the week of rain that always accompanies him. But I think we are finally there, with beautiful colors in the garden, and the scent of roses and honeysuckle in the air. We've had our first bbq of the year and I'm thinking it's time to stock up on the usual supply of chilled rosé to see us through the next few months.

It's also the time of year when fêtes and spectacles start coming on thick and fast. The oldest lady and I have our Sevillanas dance spectacle this weekend. I'm more nervous for her than for me, but you'd think we were preparing for a nationally televised event by the level of anxiety the rest of my group are showing. There has been talk of nothing else, and one rehearsal after another, like we are preparing for the World Sevillanas Olympics. I guess I should be taking it more seriously......

Then the music spectacle takes place, where the oldest lady's solfège group performs songs and plays instruments, under the stern eye of their Russian teacher. We've had a little bit of small village excitement the last few weeks, as the Russian teacher was accused of being too strict by the French Foyer Rural council. Terse letters were written back and forth, the parents were up in arms, and the little ones watched on, obviously more interested in the dramatics than in the music. A tussel between the French and the Russians is really something to behold, neither side backs down, the words are harsh, and in the end they kiss and make up and pretend like nothing has happened. Who needs soap operas when you live in a rural French village?

At the end of the month, the outdoor meals will start happening. We have a pig roast, a mussel and fries night, a beef roast, the end of school meal, then the 14th of July celebrations, followed by the village carnival. All accompanied by live music and dancing. This is the part of living in the south that I love so much. Balmy evenings spent eating and drinking with our neighbors, watching the children play and the elderly couples dance, while the sun slides down behind the chateau. For everthing else that has changed in France for the worse, there are still a few of these remaining traditions that conjure up an image of Pagnol's country. And for a few hours every weekend in the summer, all is as it used to be.

Happy Fish of April Day!

For someone who has a hard time remembering people's birthdays and sending a Father's Day card before the actual event, being a mother in France has brought a whole new set of holidays and traditions I'm bound to forget. Thank God I have a 5-year old to keep me on track. She looks at me like 'do try to keep up, maman!'.

Apparently today is Poisson d'avril, or April Fool's Day, where the adults are made fools of by children making paper fish and sticking them on the back of unsuspecting adults. Surely this is a better tradition than blatantly lying to everyone about everything in the name of April Fool....

Here are some other French holidays and traditions I'm trying to keep up with:

Epiphany- where the French make Galettes du Roi, with a treasure inside and a crown on top, and whoever finds the treasure gets to wear the crown as the king or queen of the day.

La Chandeleur- Or crèpe day. God forbid I forget to feed my kids crèpes on this day. That's just so not done here....

Pacques- This is Easter Sunday, but not as I know it. No little Easter bunny hiding eggs, no, here apparently Flying bells do the hiding, and not an egg dye set to be found at the supermarket.

La Petite Souris- That's the tooth fairy to you and me. And fortunately for French parents it's a little cheaper, as the custom is normally to leave a toy. I'm still trying to work out how to get that ironing board she's been asking for under her pillow.....

Pere Noel- This one isn't too hard to remember, but apparently it's shoes, not stockings, that must be placed by the chimney. The other thing I like in France is that there is also a 'Pere Fouettard', who traditionally delivers spankings to any of those children who've been naughty, not nice.

Halloween- I'm still a little confused by this one in France. It is starting to be quite commercial, with pumpkins on sale for jack o lanterns, and special Halloween candy for trick or treaters. In the 8 years we've been here, I think we've only had trick or treaters maybe 3 of those years, and for two of those I was caught out without any candy. There is still a little bit of resistance to the holiday, being seen as a commerical American holiday instead of a traditional French one. And I'm still not sure how to translate 'trick or treat'.

I'm sure after awhile these things will become instilled in me, like yams for Thanksgiving, fireworks for 4th of July, and marshmallow bunnies for Easter. At least most of the main holidays are celebrated on the same day as in the States. Although I have convinced my dad that Father's day is a different date here (it's not)just to cover up for the fact that I always forget to send the card until the last minute.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas......

My favorite time of the year is upon us, when I allow myself to unabashedly over eat, foie gras, chocolates, Bailey's, smoked salmon, stilton, gingerbread and cranberry sauce. These are a few of my favorite things. Not that I ever think you need an excuse to indulge yourself with food, but I guess this time of year makes me think it's slightly more legitimate.

It's 15 years now that I've been out of the States, and I'm struggling to remember exactly what it was that made up my holiday season when I was a child. I remember random things like nut covered cheese balls, candy canes and marshmallow-topped yams, but I struggle to remember other things like what time we ate our Christmas dinner, when we opened our stockings, why my parents dragged their 3 year old daughter to midnight mass and wondered why she was cranky, etc.

Now that I'm a mother, living in France and married to an Englishman, my ideas of what is traditional is a little skewed. Do I embrace the French ways of celebrating the season, do I try to re create the Christmas of my childhood in the States, or do I go with the Duke's English traditions? My poor little ladies aren't sure if the fat guy in the red suit is called Pere Noel, Father Christmas or Santa Claus.

I know now is the time to start creating my own family tradition with the kids, but I could really use a guidebook on how to mix all of the different traditions into one. I would love to hear how any of you other mothers have done this. I guess I have to pick all of things that are important within all of the cultures and try to make some sort of sense out of it all. I suppose the best bit is that they all include lots of eating, and on that score, I seem to be upholding the traditions very well!

This brings to me to the tricky religious part. It feels slightly strange that my children only think of Christmas as a time to get presents. And as we aren't a religious family, I'm not sure how much or even how I would go about teaching them the story behind the holiday. Again, any input would be greatly appreciated.

Whichever traditions you and your family enjoy this time of year, I hope the season is a happy and healthy one for you all!

On a different note, I finished my Nanowrimo novel, 52,000 words! I plan to start editing in January, and I sincerely hope that at this time next year, I have a fully formed novel to share with the world!

Season's greetings to you all, although I much prefer the Nigella Lawson version, Season's Eatings!