Bonjour
Hope you had a good week.
Here it’s been super busy as I’ve been writing my second book. But now it’s finished, gone off to the publishers for printing and will be out in the spring. So, I’m back with the weekly letters and the daily chats on Facebook (did you see it was National Croissant Day this week? I shared a croissant image on Facebook which went viral!), Twitter and Instagram. It still amazes me that I can talk to someone in America, Brazil, Japan, France, UK, Australia and Puerto Rico and just about everywhere so easily. And, I absolutely love it. Being a writer can be a lonely life but not for me – I have such a big community of friends around the world!
I’ve been studying France for a while now but I’m still fascinated, surprised and sometimes baffled by what I discover. In the lovely wine making area of Chateauneuf du Pape for instance, where the Popes once had their French summer home (who can blame them?) it’s illegal for flying saucers to fly over the town. I kid you not, this actually is a law which was created in the 1950s when some people were clearly drinking too much of the famous wine and became worried about UFOs. The Mayor organised the law to be passed and it’s still valid to this day – aliens beware!
A much more fun law is that you must eat crêpes (deliciously thin pancakes) on 2 February… Okay it’s not a law, but it ought to be! It’s the Fête de la Chandeleur, Candlemas in English, and it’s likely based on a centuries old tradition when pilgrims were offered crêpes by Pope Gelasius in the fifth century. There’s a recipe below for perfect French, very easy to make, crêpes.
Wishing you a very bon weekend.
Bisous from France.
Janine
Editor
Photo: French onion soup by Betty Hobert in honour of February 4 being National Home-Made Soup Day!
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