easter in france.

+jmj+

As super excited as I am to be celebrating Easter in Rome, it is still a bit of a shame that I will not be in France to celebrate in my country/culture/church of adoption! But all of my observations the past few weeks of how the French fête the Resurrection is more than making up for my eventual absence. Simply walking down the street in Evreux gives you an idea of what characterizes a typical French Easter.

Since the most important activity in France is eating, it's not hard to guess one of the most important parts of Easter is, nonetheless, EATING. Of course, food is the center of pretty much anything in France. For Easter, that food is specifically chocolate. It's everywhere, and in insane quantities. And I thought that America had a problem with portion sizes...

Easter carousel? why not?

I am constantly amused by all of the random things I find around Evreux. Even eight months after moving here, seeing a giant carousel in front of the Cathedral in the middle of Holy Week should not surprise me, yet it still does.

a hedge decorated with egg garlands

giant bunny chocolate display

cakes decorated as nests

I think one my most interesting finds so far has been Pélote. Gracing the window display of one of the local chocolate shops, this giant sheep is named after the French word for "a ball of yarn", and she weighs in at a hefty over 80 pounds of pure chocolate. That's right. An obese, knitting sheep made entirely of chocolate. The French know how to celebrate Easter.

Pélote

Overall, Easter is celebrated in many of the same ways as in America. Lots of food, chocolate, and baby animals. There are certainly some different traditions, but in general, Easter is Easter no matter where you are.

pax christi.