Pippa's teacher asks, "Would you come in for English class to talk about Pâques (Easter)?"
I clarify. "Pâque Juive?" Directly translated this means "Jewish Easter" and it's how they say Passover in French. Pâques comes from the root Pasques, as in Paschal Lamb, and the Hebrew word for Passover sounds a lot like it and shares linguistic roots: "Pesach".
But as we can clearly deduce from this sign in the Jewish quarter of the Marais where Micky's Deli has proudly been in business since the year 5755, Passover came before Easter. So shouldn't they be called "Pâques" (Passover) and "Christian Pâques" (Easter)?
By coincidence, my parents are visiting us in Paris over Passover. I frankly don't have time to make a huge Sedar meal, since the girls are in gymnastics till 7pm most nights, so we bring home a pre-roasted chicken, and I throw together the following, pathetic Sedar plate.
Nearly everything is wrong with this: Our bitter herbs are wilted cilantro; the egg is uncooked; the charoses is just a couple raw ingredents (apples and nuts); the horseradish is actually mustard; and the lamb shank is a chicken wishbone. But at least it's on a plate. In San Francisco, I used to make up a Sedar sombrero with a pewter souvenir brought back from Mexico.
It's so wrong, I feel like I should cry out "April Fool's!" when I serve it, though if you remember, here I would say "April Fish!" The fact is that all the holidays are all mixed up this year, and adding to the confusion is that the Spring Ahead time change happens in France on Easter morning. Passover overlaps Easter, and April Fish day falls on Easter Monday -- which is the day off here in honor of Easter. French people work and go to school (yes, even Catholic school) on Good Friday, so it's not so good, after all.
I am able to find real matzah at the grocery store. Here's a game for you: One of these things is not like the other. Which one is it?
In case you are wondering, Pippa's teacher does not actually want me to talk about Passover to the kids but, rather, American Easter traditions. Which is too bad, because I have a lot of matzah I could bring in for them to taste.
I clarify. "Pâque Juive?" Directly translated this means "Jewish Easter" and it's how they say Passover in French. Pâques comes from the root Pasques, as in Paschal Lamb, and the Hebrew word for Passover sounds a lot like it and shares linguistic roots: "Pesach".
But as we can clearly deduce from this sign in the Jewish quarter of the Marais where Micky's Deli has proudly been in business since the year 5755, Passover came before Easter. So shouldn't they be called "Pâques" (Passover) and "Christian Pâques" (Easter)?
By coincidence, my parents are visiting us in Paris over Passover. I frankly don't have time to make a huge Sedar meal, since the girls are in gymnastics till 7pm most nights, so we bring home a pre-roasted chicken, and I throw together the following, pathetic Sedar plate.
Nearly everything is wrong with this: Our bitter herbs are wilted cilantro; the egg is uncooked; the charoses is just a couple raw ingredents (apples and nuts); the horseradish is actually mustard; and the lamb shank is a chicken wishbone. But at least it's on a plate. In San Francisco, I used to make up a Sedar sombrero with a pewter souvenir brought back from Mexico.
It's so wrong, I feel like I should cry out "April Fool's!" when I serve it, though if you remember, here I would say "April Fish!" The fact is that all the holidays are all mixed up this year, and adding to the confusion is that the Spring Ahead time change happens in France on Easter morning. Passover overlaps Easter, and April Fish day falls on Easter Monday -- which is the day off here in honor of Easter. French people work and go to school (yes, even Catholic school) on Good Friday, so it's not so good, after all.
I am able to find real matzah at the grocery store. Here's a game for you: One of these things is not like the other. Which one is it?
If you said the piece of cardboard, you are wrong. Clearly, the cardboard and the matzah are one and the same thing. They look similar and taste identical. Even Anthony -- who, along with me, is so frugal about not wasting food you would think we had lived through the Great Depression -- encourages me to throw out the 95% of the matzah that remains untouched. My Jewish parents eat croissants and baguettes all through their Passover visit. My mom reasons, "I'm not going to Paris and passing up French bread to eat matzah."
On the day before Easter (Christian Easter, that is), we have a family movie day and watch The Rise of the Guardians in which Easter is, appropriately enough, "tomorrow." More perfectly, it stars the Tooth Fairy, including a French Tooth Mouse ("from the European division", as the Fairy says). This is especially à propos because Pippa lost her 8th tooth. So we are visited this year by both the Tooth Mouse and the Easter Bunny. This is a little mixed-up, since we assume the Bunny visits us instead of the Flying Bells since we are American, yet we readily agree that her tooth is collected in France by a Mouse, not a Fairy.
If you are worried about the possible overcrowding chez nous (what if the Mouse, the Fairy, the Bunny, and the Bells all show up at the same time?!), you should know that several years ago on Christmas Eve, we were successfully visited on Christmas Eve by the Tooth Fairy, Tinkerbell, and Santa Claus. We wondered if there was some sort of magical air traffic controller over our house that night because all went smoothly.
In case you are wondering, Pippa's teacher does not actually want me to talk about Passover to the kids but, rather, American Easter traditions. Which is too bad, because I have a lot of matzah I could bring in for them to taste.
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