Merry Fishmas!

Raffi's Christmas album was always a hit in my household during the holiday season. One of his finest works, in the esteemed opinion of my siblings and I, had to be his take on the "We wish you a Merry Christmas" classic, swapping out Christmas for Fishmas: sheer brilliance in the minds of elementary age children. Little did I know that Fishmas really did exist, in the form of French April Fool's. Apparently the way the French celebrate April 1 is by secretly sneaking around all day and discretely pinning paper fish on the backs of their friends. Victory is measured in just how long your friend will walk around before realizing he or she has a fish taped to his or her back. (And no, if only I were clever enough to post an April Fool's entry. This honestly turns out to be a French tradition.) The origins of the tradition are not entirely clear: it may be a celebration of the end of the sign of pisces, the last winter zodiac, or it may have its roots in the Lenten tradition of eating fish and abstaining from meat during the forty-day period preceding Easter. There are yet more legends though it seems the real explanation may be lost in time. Some boulangeries get involved in the fun, making special fish-shaped pastries and chocolates. I took advantage of my newly arrived guest to mark the day with raspberry and almond fish pastries, as fine a justification as any to support my favorite Parisian specialty.

Best wishes for a very merry Fishmas!