La Toussaint

Salut, tout le monde!
I sometimes wish Halloween was celebrated in France just because it is a nice excuse to dress up. I never realized how much fun it was until last year when the Americans coerced me into going trick-or-treating (excuse me, candybagging as Ava would say) with them.
Instead, we celebrate La Toussaint- or All Saint's Day. It takes place on November 1st, and it is a day for us to reflect on our relatives who have passed. We place flowers, normally chrysanthemums, on our loved ones' graves, and some people attend special masses which emphasize the saints*. I've been to one once.
Schools (thank goodness!) and most other public places are closed on this day.

*I meant to talk about the Saints and French culture earlier! Aside from birthdays, most families celebrate their children's saint days as well. Saints play a large role in the Catholic church, and although I am not religious, I still take some time to celebrate my saint day. Sainte Sabine day is August 29, and hopefully, I'll do something exciting on that day next year so I can post about it. I'll talk more about Saint Days then.

As for the weekly dose of Nord-Pas-de-Calais culture:

We put chicory in or on most everything. Enough said. ;)

Sabine