Thanksgiving !!!

Hello everyone, How have your respective weeks been? 

I know I promised you a Parisian insider guide last week, but something came to my mind this week and I could not wait to share it with you. And fear not, it has to do with French culture too! (Yes this is still part of the propaganda to get you to study abroad in the country of chee- the country of love !!). 

I learned pretty tardive that this quarter was not 10 weeks but really 11 because of Thanksgiving break. And yes everything around us has transformed from all the Halloween decor to add about this special weekend. As a non-American, Thanksgiving was definitely something I had seen in movies and TV shows, but I was far from imagining its importance. Not only are some classes canceled from the Monday beforehand, but I’ve even received emails starting with “Happy Thanksgiving season”! 

I personally really enjoy having an intermediate festival between Halloween and Christmas since it avoids going directly from Creepy orange season to Maria Carey gifting an all-white and snow aesthetic and instead offers a nice tradition to celebrate, and a break from the most stressful part of the year. The spirit is also such a healthy one; taking the time to think about everything you’re grateful for, and actually expressing that to those closest to your heart. Life goes by so fast that it’s important to take a break sometimes and contemplate what you have accomplished and are happy for. 

My friend Anna’s cat at one of our Friendsgiving

I was also delighted to learn that there exists a less formal version, Friendsgiving, meant to be celebrated with your friends. Thanks to the Global Office, I got to celebrate my very first Friendsgiving around a potluck and typical American food with the company of Dragon Buddies and other international students! 

Because this blog is about exchanging bits of culture and global experience I thought it could be interesting to share what I believe to be the equivalents of Thanksgiving in France.

The similarities to me are because Thanksgiving, like the two I will tell you about, are festivitie surrounding Christmas, so are cozy winter festivals, very family-oriented, of traditional origin, and with a very specific food selection for it. 

La Chandeleur 

The first one is called la Chandeleur and is celebrated on February second (because we need a certain time after Christmas I believe) and is of Roman and pagan origin. 

To be honest, I had to google what was the exact significance of it since it is so embedded in my life that I do not even question it. My small research told me that the explanations are actually very disputed between Celtic, Christian, orthodox, and Roman traditions, so nowadays it is mostly secular. 

The concept is very fun, you and your entourage get together… to make crepes! And no, not pancakes. Crêpes. This means they are very fine and probably have seltzer or beer in the recipe to be light without rising in the pan. You can then put anything on your crêpes but the specialist, from the Brittany region would mostly recommend Salted Butter Caramel. 

The fun part comes with the superstitions associated with the crepes, and the way you cook them. Since they need to be flipped, the game is to not use a spatula, and instead make it jump upwards, turning it in the hair, and getting it back on the pan for it to cook on the other side. As you might imagine, it takes both luck and skill to be able to do it. 

It is said that if you make a wish, flip the crepe, and are successful, your wish will be granted. Others say that if you flip the crêpes holding a coin in your other hand, your next year will be flourishing with money (and as students I think we will all be trying that this year won’t we ?). 

La fête des rois

La fête des rois, or in English, the festival/party of the Kings, descends from a Roman tradition (Saturnalia) but is now meddled with the Christian tradition of Epiphanie, which celebrates when the three kings visit the then infant Jesus. 

It’s also tradition for the president to eat a huge one! – Photo from Elle France

For this, we eat a cake called “galette des rois”, a puff pastry surrounding what we call frangipane, an almond/marzipan kind of cream, which is absolutely delicious, and sometimes some nice add ons such as pear, chocolate, fruits… The top of it is lustered and has a characteristic design. 

But inside the cake is hidden a little object that we call fêve (bean). The galette is put in the middle of the table, and the youngest of the people present has to go under the table; hs that they are not only innocent but also unbiased. When the first cut of the cake is cut, the youngest from under the table has to decide to whom it is destined, and the same process to the whole cake. That will ensure all parts are distributed evenly and randomly, and everyone can get the fêve. 

If you get the fêve, here is the fun part, you get crowned king with an actual crown, and can choose your queen to also earn a little crown to wear with you. In Roman times that meant anyone, from slave to master, could get a day of leading the whole house and its employees, but today it is more about eating and competing with your friend on who will be king. 

What’s funny is that I was telling my friends about that while we were visiting and someone interrupted us to tell me that this tradition was still upheld in New Orleans which I thought was so amazing. 

Whether it’s Thanksgiving, la chandeleur ou la fête des rois, I cannot wait to celebrate with the people I met here 🙂 

Talk to you next week!