WINTER CELEBRATIONS IN FRANCE

Dear Comenius friends,

Here are the winter celebrations that happen after Christmas.

EPIPHANY

It is on the 4th, 5th or the 6th of January. We eat une galette des rois. It is made out of puff pastry, and is filled with frangipane. The youngest person hides under the table and decides who will get which part of the cake.The King or the Queen is the person who finds the bean in the cake(a porcelain figurine). He or she must wear a crown and choose somebody to be their King or Queen. We can celebrate the Kings until the 31st of January.

CANDLEMAS
It is the 2nd of Febuary. We eat pancakes. We hold a piece of gold in our left hand and with our right hand, we try and toss the pancakes in the frying pan. If we succeed, we will be rich for the whole year. "At Candlemas, winter passes or takes vigour."

MARDI-GRAS

We celebrate the carnival. We eat pancakes again, and we dress up. We celebrate the carnival at school with all the classes. At the end, we burn the "carnival majesty". There is also a carnival in the town. In our region of Normandie, there is also a carnival that is celebrated at Granville. "Mardi-gras, leaves you not, I will make pancakes that you will have."