Paris and Beyond: French religious celebrations

Monday, February 2, 2015

Crêpes for la Chandeleur

Fête des Chandelles

(Candlemas in English)

Today is Candlemas, 2 February, and it is celebrated in France with crêpes.

Yesterday I made crêpes with a seven-year-old

and an eleven-year-old (supervised by a wild puppy).

You hold a coin in your left hand and flip the crêpe pan in your right.

If you can catch the crêpe,

it means your family will be prosperous for the rest of the year,

such is the legend.

If you drop it, the puppy will eat it and you start again

Pictured above are savory wheat crèpes

from Crêperie Plougastel which are delicious.

My helpers and I made the same basic recipe

of milk, flour, eggs, butter, and a small amount of salt and sugar

that I have been making since I first learned to cook.

We will have garlic shrimp crêpes with a bechamel sauce.

(miam-miam)

Crêperie Plougastel

47, rue du Montparnasse

75014, Paris

Sunday, December 21, 2014

The Carolers

Each December 8th the churches of the Left Bank

gather in the 5ième to sing the French Christmas carols

carrying candles through the streets.

We have joined them on several occasions

after evening services at Saint-Nicholas du Chardonnet.

bon dimanche

Celebration of the Immaculate Conception

Saint-Nicholas du Chardonnet

75005, Paris

Paris and Beyond