Happy Holidays Within French Life
The French celebrate their holidays about like we do but theirs have a lot of time honored traditions still within them today. Maybe we all should take a hint from that and apply some old time traditions into our own celebrations for the holidays?
Easter in France is taken seriously, especially by those who have dedicated Catholic faith. The bells of all French Catholic Churches do no ring for three days leading up to Easter Sunday. They all them chime and people turn to their neighbors and loved ones and hug as the music from the bells ring out.
Children in France do not believe in the Easter bunny. The Flying Bells return on Easter morning and leave a trail of chocolate covered eggs in their wake. They are hidden among the houses and the gardens of children’s homes for them to search out and find.
The Christmas holiday is a wonderful time in France. They hold on to age old traditions from centuries ago and incorporate those into their own celebrations. Santa Claus is called by a different name here it is Pere Noel. Children leave their shoes by the fireplace with care instead of their stockings dreaming they will be filled with toys and goodies on Christmas morning.
Most Christmas dinners are done after everyone gets through with the Christmas Eve mass in churches. They settle in with their loved ones and friends for a fantastic feast of roast duck, turkey and so much more including a tantalizing dessert of white pudding.
There is also another holiday in France that is in commemoration of the Paris prison called the Bastille being attacked by many unhappy townspeople who did not like the things that went on at this horrible place.
There are more such days if you delve further into the history of the French lifestyle.
French wedding customs are mostly like ours in other countries. One exception is the bottle beheading of a poor little champagne bottle by the groom using a saber specially created for just such an event. This is said to have started with Napoleon’s troops playing a game and beheading bottles of booze with their sabers.
The troops of Napoleons armies would ask ladies to hold their own bottles skyward and then lop off the necks with their sabers and drink and feast afterwards. What fun they had then. We smartened up quite a bit since then and decided that was not a very safe way of doing it.
French life holds traditions steadfast in all of their celebrations and also incorporate the importance of spending quality time with loved ones and friends to share in the seasons meaning and joy. The french employers allow each person a total of 5 weeks during a one year period off for specifically celebrating the holiday seasons. This gives them time throughout the year to enjoy their families and especially the ones who visit maybe only once every season.
Everybody feels they want have the French Life. If you feel you want to discover a little more about Living in France, you shall see that there are a lot of places where you can get more info.
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