Bonne Fête!

I don't know why so many are surprised that every day in the French calendar is dedicated to a saint! On the other hand, Valentine's Day or Saint Patrick's Day do not surprise anybody...

The French calendar displays a saint (masculine) or sainte (feminine) for every day except Bank Holidays. The Saints' days (or name day) are pretty much set but sometimes there can be a slight movement in the dates due to Bank Holidays.

The calendar is of course largely influenced by the catholic calendar of saints. For those who can't find their names in the list (because of its foreign or non-catholic origin), there is still hope as the calendar changes all the time, scrapping fading names and welcoming more commonly used ones and offering alternative extensions to classic ones. So in effect, some days have several Saints to celebrate.

What happens on your Saint's Day? The celebration varies from one family to the other but you can't miss it. You will be reminded the day before because the weatherman or woman will announce it with the weather forecast (see Ephemeride in this blog) on TV and the radio, the newspaper publishes it in the Carnet du Jour (Diary of the day), the florist advertises it etc.... Contrary to what it seems, it is not a massive money spinner. You might get some flowers, a box of chocolates or just "une bise pour ta fête" (a kiss for your Saint's day). Maybe a small informal tea-party : un "goûter". You might just get a few casual "Bonne Fête!"s in the day.

Or since recently, you might get an e-card.

There are some special Saints' Days: la Saint Nicolas (Dec6th), la Saint Sylvestre (Dec 31st), la Saint Valentin (of course), la Toussaint (all Saints Day on November 1st) , la Sainte Catherine (November 25th) where all the unmarried ladies over the age of 25 have to wear silly hats....There is also la Saint Glinglin, a fictionnal humurous saint synonymous to Saint Never. "Elle me repayera à la Saint Glinglin." (She will never repay me).

Not so nice, is the use of  "la fête" when you warn somebody that they are going to have a hard time: "Ça va être ta fête!".

Anyway, when is it your Saint's Day? Don't reserve flowers and cholocates just for Valentine's!