I'VE SAID IT here before, but I'm always a bit surprised that France -- an undeniably secular country -- takes religious holidays very seriously. This weekend we have Monday off (yes, the Monday after not the Friday before) because of Easter. In a few weeks we'll have a Thursday off to celebrate Accension. The French also take a day off (or two weeks for school children) to celebrate All Saints Day in late October. All this while church attendance figures continue to plummet in the country. Go figure.
But any three-day weekend is nice. We're sticking around the house this time but will have a lot going on. This afternoon we had a nice picnic lunch with a church group up in Gourdon where we ate 'potluck' style and played games with the kids -- including an easter egg hunt with 358 plastic eggs. This evening we had a very nice dinner with some good friends from our village who had family members visiting from Burgundy and the Var.
Monday should be fun because I'm going to play some music with a small group I've gotten acquainted with thanks to a colleague of mine. We're going to play some tradition French music at La Fête de l’Oranger -- a large festival in Le Bar-sur-Loup -- a village about 5 minutes up the road from us. I've never seen (or heard) a lot of the music before, but it should be a fun afternoon anyway. We'll begin the afternoon with a quick lunch at a friend's house, then hit the place for some performing!
And Easter Sunday? Just a quiet day at home and a nice bike ride in the afternoon!
But whatever you end up doing, any three-day weekend has to go in the 'love it' column.
CJS
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