April Fish!

So today is April 1st...April Fool's Day! But I am in France and the French like to have their own specific way of doing things and it isn't April Fool's Day here...but 'Poisson d'Avril'. Yup, that's right: April Fish day. Little French children like to run around with little paper fish and try to stick them on the backs of other children and then they yell, "Poisson d'avril!" April Fish.

Next weekend is Easter and again I will have to adjust to the French tradition. Living in Paris, I've traded in car payments for a 15 euro/month unlimited transport pass, TGI Fridays for little cafés, 32oz mochachinos for tiny black espressos...and I've traded in the Easter Bunny for Flying Easter Bells. That's right. Next weekend, there will be no Bunny for me. Instead, flying winged bells from Rome will come and hide eggs for children to hunt.

Still, if accepting April Fish and Flying Easter Bells means I get to enjoy another spring in Paris, then count me in. It was beautiful today and I spent the afternoon in a warm sunny spot on the banks of the Seine river on the Ile Saint-Louis, reading my book and dozing in the sun. The trees are already turning green. On our Nintendo growing up we had the Wheel of Fortune game and one of the grand prizes was ‘April in Paris.’ It is easy to see why.