La Toussaint

Yesterday (November 1) was La Toussaint, the French name for All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows). Despite France being a secular country, this Catholic holy day is also a national public holiday. (Yeah, French secularism is weird, and feels less consistent than American secularism, but that's probably just a matter of perspective. It's quite rare to see French politicians talk of their personal relationship with God, for instance.)

Most people from Anglophone cultures will know All Saints' Day as "the day after Halloween". After all, Hallowe'en is a contraction of All Hallow's Eve(ning), in other words, "the evening before All Saints' Day". However, Halloween celebrations as we know them in Anglophone cultures were quite missing on Saturday night!

Although the tradition of "trick or treating" is often regarded as being American in origin, it actually finds its roots in Scotland. Still practised today, children will go "guising", that is, going around the neighbourhood in disguise. They knock on the door of a neighbour, are invited inside, and have to perform a "piece" to get their reward (fruit, nuts, and sweets). The piece can be a joke, a riddle, a poem, a song, or some other performance. Apparently this practice in turn can be traced to traditions around the celtic pagan festival Samhain, the traditional harvest festival.

Okay, back to France. So, we didn't get to dress up, or give (or receive) any sweets, but instead, we got a public holiday with excellent weather! Yesterday was also the first Sunday of the month, which, as you may recall, means that many museums are open for free. We took advantage of this and visited the Musée du Moyen Âge (Museum of the Middle Ages).

Wow, the middle ages were pretty grim. Here's a statue of a martyred saint.

Yep, still pretty grim.

There was also some Roman artefacts, like this statue of Emperor Julian the Apostate.

Luckily, the middle ages weren't all doom and gloom. They had unicorns too.

And bunnies!

And books with pictures. Or maybe this is a colouring book?

After the museum, we visited Grom, an Italian ice cream shop. They have a variety of sorbets (milk-free, of course), and all of their cones are gluten-free. This is a winning combination for a happy Talia.

Apple and lemon sorbet!

We also visited the Panthéon, a huge mausoleum which houses the bodies of many of France's most famous men. (Yes, men. There is the body of exactly one woman in there: Marie Curie. However, two more women - Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz and Germaine Tillion, both heroes of the French resistance during WWII - were added recently. Their bodies were not physically moved into the Panthéon (at the request of their families), but their names are listed among the others.)

Voltaire's tomb.

We also spent some time cycling around in the sun - the weather was really fantastic! (Unlike today, which is grey, cloudy, and barely more than 10C (50F).) Unfortunately, the camera battery ran out, so no pictures. But it was very pleasant.

So, while we may have missed out on the candy explosion of Hallowe'en in the USA, or more traditional Hallowe'en activities in the UK like apple dooking, a day of free museums, ice cream, and relaxing in the gentle sun definitely makes up for it. More of this, please!