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.

Qui sont les Français de 2011? Mobile phone.

64,3 million mobile phones are in circulation en France. 79% of the population owns one.

168 billion text messages had been exchanged  in France by the end of 2010.

The Internet continues to infiltrate French homes with19,7 million contracts. Around 55% of households  use the Internet at home.

Qui sont les Français de 2011? Family life.

Amongst the 17,5 million families in France (7,7 million couples),44%  have children. This number decreases year after year.
The typical French family has changed: 3,9 million families have one child against 3,5 million who have 2.
The number of childless couples is increasing and represents 42% of families. There are 7,3 million couples without children at home.
The nombre of single parent families is increasing  (2,4 million). 85% ofsingle parent families are women who bring up their children alone.

Qui sont les Français de 2011? Budget.

The biggest expense in French people's budget is ....bottled water. Every year, they drink 151,1 liters of mineral or spring water. In the 80's, the 5 foods at the top of the shopping list were: potatoes, fresh vegetables,wine, bread and milk. Now, they are: bottled water, fresh vegetables, potatoes, bread and fresh milk. Compared to 1999, the French spend more on housing, their health and communication equipment but less on food, alcohol, tobacco, clothes and transport.

Qui sont les Français de 2011? Salaries.

Average salary: 2068 euros

The "average" French person working full time in the private and semi-public sector earns 2068 euros a month. 10% of the French workforce in full time employement earn less than 1124 euros. The SMIC (minimum hourly wage) has been increased steadily in the past years to reach  9 euros on January 1st 2011. Manuel workers have seen the highest salary increase in 2008 (1,3%) in contrast with management whose salary have decreased of 0,8%.

Qui sont les Français en 2011 ? Le mariage.

249 000 couples said "yes" in 2010.The average age of the groom is 31,7 and  the bride 29,8. Even if marriage is decline since 1970 (393700 weddings then), it is still more popular than the Pacte Civil de Solidarité (185 000) which is increasing in popularity (13% since 2009).
The divorce rate has increased dramatically from 1969 to 2009 (76%). 127 600 couples divorced in 2009, (10,6 divorces for 1000 marriages). Most couples divorced after 5 years of marriage.

Qui sont les Français en 2011? Population overview.

The population of France is now well over 65 million. In 26 years, it has risen from 56,4 millions (1985), that is a 15% increase.
The average age for a man is 38,9 and a woman is 41,9.
The French population is growing older : over 65s represent a sixth of the population.Their number has increased by an impressive 20,7 % in the past 10 years.
Experts forecast that the average age of a French person will be 43,6 by 2040.
And by 2050, the total population should be between 70 and 73 milllion!