Meaning: <\/strong>Hello… Happy Easter!<\/p>\n P\u00e2ques<\/em> is a day that falls on different dates each year, but always in spring, on a Sunday. In Anglophone countries it is known as Easter. It predominantly derives from the Christian faith, but many of its traditions are a mixture of the rituals of many religions, old and new. The commercialization of P\u00e2ques<\/em> has made it that these days it is perhaps best known for one thing: chocolate! We will get onto that later but for a start, on the day, it is natural to say to friends and family Joyeuses P\u00e2ques<\/em>\u00a0(Happy Easter). It is a popular holiday in France where schools and universities give their students two weeks of vacation! These are called vacances de P\u00e2ques<\/em>. Easter Monday is a National Holiday, meaning employees of most companies get the day off.<\/p>\n Meaning:\u00a0<\/strong>Wait for the bells to sound<\/p>\n Attendez que les cloches sonnent<\/em> is something that is likely to be said to impatient children. Here’s why: Unlike in other countries including Germany, the UK and America where the Easter Bunny brings the eggs, throughout most of France* it is the ringing of the church bells that deposit the eggs into the gardens from the sky. But only if the children have behaved themselves throughout the year!<\/p>\n *However, depending the place and the people it may also be a rabbit or a chicken that delivers the eggs.<\/p>\n Meaning:\u00a0<\/strong>To go on an egg hunt<\/p>\n Once the eggs fall from the sky they become scattered and hidden in everybody’s backyards\u2014and so the hunt begins. Normally it is the adults that hide the eggs for the children to find, but it is not uncommon for French children (once they have realized the eggs don’t actually fall from the sky) to take more pleasure out of hiding the eggs from the adults.<\/p>\n Meaning:\u00a0<\/strong>Everyone eats chocolate eggs<\/p>\n The French are known for their sweet tooth and their Francophone neighbors the Belgians are renowned for making the world’s best chocolate, so, during P\u00e2ques<\/em> it would be difficult to find anybody in this part of the world who hadn’t eaten at least one little Easter Egg.<\/p>\n Meaning:\u00a0<\/strong>Beware of indigestion!<\/p>\n Because of the renowned sweet tooth, a phrase like this is often used as a humorous but justified reply to somebody wishing you a Happy Easter. Attention \u00e0 l’indigestion !<\/em> would then be a subtle way of saying don’t eat too much chocolate.<\/p>\n Meaning:\u00a0<\/strong>Leg of lamb<\/p>\n Don’t worry too much about a health scare, though. It isn’t just chocolate that is eaten on P\u00e2ques<\/em>. For those in need of a good square meal, why not eat gigot d’agneau<\/em> (a French dish that is traditionally eaten on this day). Gigot d’agneau<\/em> is a leg of lamb and will often be served with potatoes and other seasonal vegetables.<\/p>\n Meaning: <\/strong>To become a fish seller the day before Easter<\/p>\n There are a few idiomatic expressions that can be used all year round that refer to P\u00e2ques<\/em>. Se faire poissonnier la veille de P\u00e2ques<\/em> is a way of saying: to pick the worst time possible to do something. The idea being that since many Christians abstain from meat during Lent and eat fish instead, that the best time of year for fish sellers is during Lent. The day that Lent ends would be the worst possible time to open up a fish shop since by that time, everybody’s more than ready to go back to eating meat.<\/p>\n \u00c0 P\u00e2ques ou \u00e0 la Trinit\u00e9<\/em> is a way of saying that something is never going to happen. The idea being that the second coming of Christ will probably happen before the event being referred to happens.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \r\n\tIf you like learning French at your own pace and from the comfort of your device, I have to tell you about FluentU<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\nFluentU makes it easier (and way more fun) to learn French by making real content like movies and series accessible to learners. You can check out FluentU's curated video library, or bring our learning tools directly to Netflix or YouTube<\/strong> with the FluentU Chrome extension. \r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n \r\nOne of the features I find most helpful is the interactive captions<\/strong>\u2014you can tap on any word to see its meaning, an image, pronunciation, and other examples from different contexts. It\u2019s a great way to pick up French vocab without having to pause and look things up separately.\r\n<\/p> \r\n \r\nFluentU also helps reinforce what you\u2019ve learned<\/strong> with personalized quizzes. You can swipe through extra examples and complete engaging exercises that adapt to your progress. You'll get extra practice with the words you find more challenging and even be reminded you when it\u2019s time to review!\r\n<\/p> \r\n2) Attendez que les cloches sonnent<\/em><\/h2>\n
3) Partir \u00e0 la chasse aux \u0153ufs<\/em><\/h2>\n
4) Tout le monde mange les \u0153ufs en chocolat<\/em><\/h2>\n
5) Attention \u00e0 l’indigestion !<\/em><\/h2>\n
6) Gigot d’agneau<\/em><\/h2>\n
7) Se faire poissonnier la veille de P\u00e2ques<\/em><\/h2>\n
8) \u00c0 P\u00e2ques ou \u00e0 la Trinit\u00e9<\/em><\/h2>\n
And One More Thing...<\/h2>\r\n
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