avril

It is April. The first of April. I have high hopes for this turn of the calendar. We have to start getting a lot of our life in order so that we can come back to the States. That's right. Still haven't purchase plane tickets. Or confirmed graduate school attendance.

And it's raining. I guess that makes sense for April, but in my mind I skipped to the part where everything is growing & animals are all cute & everyone is happy. Forgot we have a lot of rain to get through before the sun really sticks around.

There are 15 hours left for France to go around telling people stupid things. In France, April Fool's Day is changed to the "Poisson d'Avril". The "Fish of April," which often comes in the form of a paper fish that is taped to an unknowing person's back. Or, if you're lucky, you could get one of these awesome Fish of April postcards. Who doesn't want that?

I have no idea where April Fool's Day came from, but I can tell you a bit about the Fish of April. According to legend (and French Wikipedia), in 1564 Charles IX signed the Édit de Roussillon, making the new year begin on January 1st. Until this édit, the French kingdom had had several different starting points for their years. Charlie (rawr) decided it was time to get everyone on the same page.

The other options for dates hovered around Christmas, Easter and the Annunciation. Instead of marking the beginning of spring or the arrival of Christ, he opted for picking a start date that aligned more with sunlight–when we start having more hours minutes (growing slowly until spring) of sunlight in each day.

So why are we giving each other a fish? Well, the other dates were based on the Catholic calendar. Similarly, the fish comes from Catholic practice. April Fool's Day usually falls in, or just after, "carême", the French for Lent. In the 16th century, Catholics were still abstaining from meat for the entirety of Lent. At the end, they gave each other gifts of food... Hopefully no fish, since it's all they were eating for Lent.

While giving gifts, they thought it was funny to slap the paper fish on someone–a sort of "You ate so much fish during Lent this year that you look like a fish!" Haha. Ha. Hmm.

Struggling for an April Fool's Day joke? Now you've got one that your whole neighborhood will think is original (if a little bizarre). Cut out a paper fish & slap it onto the next unsuspecting person you see. Or start a fish fight at work! Cut out a million paper fish & see how many people you can tape it to before people start getting really upset & sending you to the office therapist.


Enjoy what you're reading? I'd love to know that we're on track. Click Follow on the right side of the screen to stick with us.