Реферат: French Culture. Traditions and Customs

Future wealth and good fortune for newlyweds is said to be inspired by slipping a lucky sixpence into one of the shoes you wear for your wedding. The sixpence first became known as a lucky coin when introduced by Edward VI of England in 1551, and later became part of wedding tradition with brides in the Victorian era.

Brides are encouraged to include "something blue" among their wedding finery to bolster the favorite old line, "Those who dress in blue have lovers true." Blue has long been considered the color of fidelity, purity and love, and was first worn in ribbons by early Jewish brides.

Carry a handkerchief passed down through generations of your family to begin your own tradition with a lacy square that you select. A bride who cries on her wedding day is never supposed to shed another tear about her marriage.

The custom of a bride being given away originated with the sale of the bride by the father to the prospective groom. Today, the tradition is considered a sign of the father entrusting his beloved daughter to the care of her husband-to-be.

The ceremonial kiss that closes the marriage ceremony is considered symbolic of an exchange of spirit as each new spouse breathes a part of the soul into the other.

The celebration of marriage is heightened by the offering of toasts to the bride and groom. Ancient French custom encouraged the newlyweds to drink the reception toast from a special cup that was typically passed among family generations. Today, couples are given special toasting goblets for their reception.

French Tradition The traditional bridal trousseau, or hope chest, originated in France and came from the French word trousse, meaning bundle. The popularity of a bride wearing a white wedding gown on her day of matrimony, began in France several hundred years ago. The custom of having fragrant flowers as decorations and bridal bouquets has also been popular for centuries. Each flower represents a special and unique meaning to the bride and groom, and especially fragrant flowers helped freshen things up a bit, before deodorant and perfumes were invented. Wedding bells in France were usually heard in spring and summer when it was warm enough for everyone to bathe!

Still practiced in small villages today, is a traditional French custom, for the groom to call on his future bride at her home on the morning of their wedding day. As he escorts her to the wedding chapel, the town's children stretch white ribbons across the road, which the bride cuts. The groom usually walks his mother down the aisle just prior to the main wedding procession. As the newlywed couple departs from the wedding site, laurel leaves are scattered in their path for them to walk over.

A wedding toast is made to the newlyweds sometime during the traditional French wedding reception. Following this toast, they drink, as husband and wife, from a specially engraved, double handled goblet, usually a precious family heirloom passed down from generation to generation. After the wedding reception, and even later into the couple's wedding night, friends of the newlyweds might show up outside their window banging pots and pans, singing boisterous tunes. The groom is expected to invite them in for drinks and snacks.

The great thing about Paris in the Spring is that Spring comes early to Paris! Around Easter time, while the buds are still struggling to open in much of rural France, even in areas far to the south of Paris, the green is bursting open all over Paris, in the parks, on the tree-lined boulevards, on balconies and terraces. So it's hardly surprising that "Paris in the spring" is something of a cliché. After the cold months of winter, the Easter holiday period is a great time to visit the French capital.

Good Friday - the Friday before Easter - is not a public holiday in France, so it's a day for business as usual in shops, museums and restaurants - though perhaps a bit less busy than on a normal Friday, since many Parisians take a long weekend and head off to the country for this first holiday weekend of the year. The official holiday is on Easter Monday which, in France as throughout Europe, is a public holiday.

Easter week is not necessarily a school holiday week; French spring school holidays do not necessarily include the Easter week or Easter weekend, it depends on the region and on when Easter falls. Easter Monday being a public holiday, many shops and public monuments such as Museums will be closed; but the Louvre is open on Easter Monday, as on Easter Sunday - though beware of the crowds on these days. Check here for other Paris tourist attractions.

As throughout Europe, Easter in France rhymes with Easter Eggs. But Easter Eggs in France are just one among many other options as far as Easter gifts are concerned. The essential common ingredient, however, is chocolate. While supermarkets of course sell industirally produced Easter eggs and other tokens, many French people will prefer to get their Easter Eggs, chocolate Easter Bunnies, Easter Hens, Easter Bells or "friture" from a local bakery, patisserie, or - for the top quality - a local "chocolatier". And generally speaking it's worth the little (or sometimes considerable) extra cost.

Local bakers, patissiers and chocolatiers pride themselves on making good-quality Easter chocolates, often individually decorated and presented with loving care. Eggs, bunnies and other chocolate animals come either "garnis" or "non-garnis", meaning filled or unfilled. Filled versions usually contain small chocolates, or small sugary eggs - and often a mixture of the two.

"Friture", that other Easter tradition, are little chocolate fish - which historically have more to do with April Fool's Day than Easter (An April Fool joke in France is called "un poisson d'avril", an April fish); but the two events being almost simultaneous, the distinction has been forgotten.

Easter is traditionally a family celebration in France, and an excuse for a good family Sunday lunch, for which the traditional meat is roast lamb. For children, a traditional Easter pastime is hunting in the garden (or even in the apartment) for hidden chocolate eggs that according to tradition have been brought back overnight from Rome by the "Easter bells"; church bells in France traditionally remain silent from Maundy Thursday until Easter Sunday.

French Easter (Pâques) Traditions

Easter is celebrated in France much as it is in America, with various religious ceremonies commemorating the rebirth of Jesus, and cultural customs having to do with rabbits, chocolates and eggs.

The predominant religion in France is Roman-Catholic (90%). No city, village or town is without a church. Many of them date back to the twelfth century or before. Most churches have a bell, which is rung joyfully throughout the year marking various events and the passage of time. On the Thursday before Good Friday, all church bells in France are silenced in acknowledgement of Jesus' death. In fun, children are told that the bell's chimes have flown to Rome to see the Pope. Easter morning, the bells ring out once again in celebration of the Resurrection, declaring that Jesus is alive again. In some villages, people kiss and embrace one another when they hear the bells ring.

Easter morning is a happy time for children who wake to look for colorfully decorated Easter eggs (les oeufs de Pâques) hidden in their gardens, homes and playgrounds. Parents tell their children the eggs were brought from Rome (where the chimes had gone), and that when the chimes returned they brought the eggs with them. In some parts of France children look for small chariots full of eggs pulled by white horses.

Unlike Americans, the French allot an extra vacation day for the Easter holiday. Everyone gets an automatic three-day weekend which they usually use to spend time with family. Schools and universities tend to center the second spring vacation (two weeks for each of them) around Pâques as well. Easter also marks the start of the "high" season for tourists, and hotel prices rise accordingly. A series of holidays (starting with the three-day Easter weekend) continues into May, with a trio of three-day weekends that month. Oui!

French Confiseries and Chocolatiers

As always, the French take great pride and joy in their food, and no village is without at least one or more confiseries (candy shops). Easter is the perfect time of year for master chocolatiers to display and celebrate their delectable wares. Great attention to detail and years of practice result in chocolate eggs that look more like works of art than anything edible! They are truly beautiful, and many people enjoy strolling the avenues peering into the shop windows as if they are at a museum or art show.

Poisson D'Avril (French Easter Fish)

Everyone knows of chocolate rabbits in America, but did you know the French delight in chocolate fish? Although not directly related to Easter, poisson d'Avril are enjoyed throughout the entire Easter season. These fishy little friends start appearing in shops on April 1st, when children use paper versions to play an April Fools type trick. The 'trick' is to stick a paper fish onto the back of as many adults as possible, then run away yelling, "Poisson d'Avril!" ( April fish!). The tradition is several centuries old. Some say it evolved from a silly 'fish trick' where one would send an unknowing person to market to buy freshwater fish when it was not in season. In French culture, food follows season, and even children know when (and when not!) to buy oysters!

Cloche Volant (Chocolate Flying Bells)

As mentioned above, bells play an important role in the French Easter tradition. Candy shops sell chocolate flying bells alongside Easter eggs and bunnies, in the same way many candy shops in America sell chocolate crucifixes. These edible bells are another nod the the resurrection of Jesus, a time for celebration, and the end of Lent.

Easter Games

Raw eggs are rolled down a gentle slope. The surviving egg is declared a victory egg, and symbolizes the stone being rolled away from Jesus' tomb.