Easter in france

My Page About Easter In France Bonjour!  Je m'appelle Delphine et je suis française.  J'ai dix ans.  Allons en France!

La Fête de Pâques en France The French word for Easter is Pâques.  To say Happy Easter you can say Joyeuses Pâques or Bonnes Pâques. If a baby is born around Easter-time, then the name chosen for the baby might be Pascal, meaning 'belonging to Easter'.  My little sister was born on Easter Day and that is why she is called Pascale! 

Mardi gras In preparation for the period of Easter, a special day is Mardi Gras. It actually means 'fat Tuesday' and it is what is known as Shrove Tuesday in English. Why is it called 'fat Tuesday'? Well - probably because it is the last day when you can eat everything you like before the fasting period of Lent. In French, Lent is called Le Carême.

On Mardi Gras, French people traditionally eat doughnuts called les beignets or pancakes called les crêpes.  They also like to eat les gaufres (waffles).

Les gaufres, les beignets and les crêpes are the traditional food of Mardi Gras because they are a good way to use up all the extra flour, eggs and butter that should not be used during the fasting period of Le Carême.  In my family, we eat as many beignets as we can!  They are really yummy!  Miam-miam!

The day after Mardi Gras is Ash Wednesday The day after Mardi Gras is Ash Wednesday.  In French, Ash Wednesday is called Le Mercredi Des Cendres.  It is the first day of Lent (Le Carême). Le Carême is another way of saying 'forty days'.  During Le Carême people prepare for Holy Week and they think about the events leading up to the death of Jésus. 

Holy week Now, I will tell you about the week running up to Easter Sunday. It is Holy Week: La Semaine Sainte. The first day of La Semaine Sainte is Palm Sunday: in French it is called Le Dimanche Des Rameaux

Rameaux This is the day when we remember how Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the people greeted Him by laying palm leaves on the ground for Him to walk on. On this day we carry decorated branches (rameaux) to church so that the priest will bless them. The branches can be made from palm leaves, olive trees, laurel, rosemary. It all depends upon the plants that are easy to find in the area where you live.

Traditions Children prepare nests in their gardens and houses. These nests (les nids) are for the Easter bunny who will arrive during the night, bringing chocolate eggs. My little sister leaves out carrots for the bunny in case he is hungry. He is called le lapin de Pâques or le lièvre de Pâques.

Easter egg hunt When we wake up on Easter Day, all the children are very excited because it is time to search for the chocolate eggs left in the nests by the Easter bunny or scattered by the Easter bells! This egg hunt is called La chasse aux œufs.

There is something else that is very important in France at Easter There is something else that is very important in France at Easter. It just so happens that April Fools Day, on 1st. April, occurs around the time of Easter. In France, the tradition is that children play a trick on as many adults as possible by sticking paper fish onto their backs and running away. We have a great day and every time that we manage to trick a grown-up, we run away shouting out 'Poisson d'avril!' - meaning 'April fish!' And we are usually laughing lots too. C'est fantastique!

Quiz!