Joyeuses Pâques!

I will take a short break from the survey to wish everybody de "Joyeuses Pâques".  Fairly typically, the French are divided even in the most "trivial" topics. Some are adament that we should wish "une Joyeuse Pâques", others prefer the plural "de Joyeuses Pâques!" The confusion is due to the similarity of la Paque (the jewish festival to celebrate the exodus from Egypt)) and Pâques (Easter). The added  "s" at the end suggests the plural so people tend to add an "s" to Joyeuse (Happy) too. So, I am not entering this dangerous zone of conflict, I usually say Joyeuses Fêtes de Pâques , hoping for the best!
I will swiftly move on ...
To tell the story ofthe Easter bells, we will need to remember that France is in majority Roman-Catholic. Every town, village or area in a city will have its church with its bell(s) which ring(s) throughout the day (sometimes hourly, sometimes quarter hourly!) to mark time to lunch, time for mass etc... On the Thursday before Easter, all church bells in France become silent to remember Jesus' death.

Kids are told: "Les cloches sont à Rome pour voir le Pape" (The bells are in Rome to visit the Pope!)

Few towns or villages (especially in the east of France) still try to keep the tradition to replace the bells with groups of young boys who would march in the streets several times a day to remind everybody it is time to wake up, go to work, have luch, go home, go to bed etc...(They would be paid back after Easter with eggs (in the old days), chocolates or pocket money nowadays).

Easter morning, the bells "come back" and ring out  to celebrate the Resurrection. In some villages, people kiss and embrace one another when they hear the bells ring. It is actually quite odd how people are used to hear their bells daily even at night, and how odd it feels not hear them for 3 days. After such a  long silence, the sound of the bells is truly joyful and marks a new happy beginning.

It is also a happy time for children who wake up and find the chocolate treats dropped by the bells, hidden in the gardens and fields. Those can be chocolate eggs but also chocolate fish, rabbits, chickens and bells.... No card board boxes in sight! A lot of these treats are wrapped in film or coloured foil.
Le lapin de Pâques (the easter bunny) also fits in all this, somehow, especially in non catholic families.

Finally, I need to give a mention to l'arbre de Pâques, not as popular as the Christmas tree, the Easter tree is usually some branches from the garden, decorated with all sorts of painted eggs and decorations. It sort of shows that beautiful bright things can come from dead ones and rightly symbolises Easter and life after death.




Find out more about Easter using the links below et... Joyeuse(s) Pâques à tous!

Some really fancy Easter chocolates.
Chocolates and other treats.
Les nouveautés en chocolat.