Cali-Parisien

Poisson d'Avril

Another French tradition, although this one is more widely known and for once (possibly the only?) holiday with no religious significance. April Fools Day, or Poisson d'Avril (April's Fish) as it's known here in France.

Surprisingly, the origin is commonly believed to have begun here in France. In 1564, King Charles IX ordered the change of the old Julian calendar, with the Gregorian calendar. This resulted in changing the lengths and ordering of the months and also moving the new year from the spring equinox (March 25-April 1) to January 1.

Apparently there was some resistance, striking, and burning of cars because some French continued to celebrate the New Year during the week of April 1. Those who refused acknowledge the new date were ridiculed with pranks and foolish new years gifts. They were called poisson d'avril, because the date marked the end of the zodiacal sign of Pisces.

Though it's mostly for children, the modern day traditional prank is to sneakily attach a paper fish onto the victim's back without being noticed. Once they catch on to being a victim, the prankster has bragging rights to call out "Poisson d'Avril". For the older kids, there are fish shaped treats made by the boulangeries (bakery), pâtisseries (pastry shop), and chocolatries (candy/chocolate shop).

posted by geek @ samedi, avril 01, 2006 0 comments