Hello!
This weekend we celebrate Easter.
Pâques (Easter) is celebrated with a plethora of chocolate,
including eggs, bunnies, chickens, ducks, fish and bells.
Hmmm… fish and bells?
Well, apparently, the fish are carried over from the 1 April which often
falls on or around Easter weekend and tradition dictates that mischievous
children stick paper fish on the backs of unsuspecting adults – who reward them
with chocolate fish!
The bells - Cloche volants – Flying Bells have a religious significance,
because on Good Friday all the bells in France fly off to the Vatican in Rome taking
with them the grief of those mourning Christ’s Crucifixion. The church bells in France are then silent until
Easter Sunday when they return and ring out to celebrate the Resurrection of
Christ. They also spread chocolate and
decorated eggs over the gardens of France which the children collect when they
hear the bells.
So, chocolate fish and bells – who knew?
Whatever you do in
the Gironde and Dordogne regions over the Easter week, fingers crossed
for good weather and have a great time.
Best wishes,
Helen
Week 16
18 April
19 April
And the big Easter Fair comes to Castillon! The stone bridge is often closed, and the Monday market still goes ahead!
20 April
Coming up... It's the school holidays for the next 2 weeks.
And finally...
As I mentioned at the top, there are fish to be found round and about in April, and we had plenty in the studio - little tins of sardines. They are wonderful!
