bonnesfemmesbolthole: What is Mi-Carême?

Having been raised an Anglican, I thought I knew all about the major celebrations of the Catholic Church but I have never heard of Mi-Carême. We were perplexed on our last visit to a large supermarket to see all sorts of costumes and masks for sale. We couldn't find any staff to ask about them (some things are the same the world over!) and forgot about it. Then last Saturday I went out in the afternoon and found . . . chaos! Loud noisy marching bands, floats, lots of singing and shouting and what looked like confetti floating in the wind. As I got closer, I realized that many people, children and adults, were wearing costumes and masks. "What is going on?" I asked someone. "Mais, it is the Mi-Carême celebration, bien sûr," they replied. I ran back to the apartment to get the camera and David. Together we might figure it out. The other two people I asked about the origins of this celebration were no wiser than the first so we enjoyed it and went to the internet when we returned. It seems that Mi-Carême began as a bit of a release from the rigours

of Lent. For one day, people were allowed to eat, drink and celebrate before returning to their fast. One source suggested that it really had to with the shelf life of eggs which long ago were on the proscribed list of foods. It seems that eggs would last about 20 days before going bad. 20 days—mid way through Lent—a festival to use them up on cakes and crêpes. Why not? Then came the dressing up as a sort of re-creation of Mardi Gras. Imagine my surprise to discover that Mi-Carême is still celebrated in a few places in Quebec and New Brunswick. There, it lasts for five days. The women make elaborate costumes for the men.

They then go out every evening in their disguises to visit the neighbours where they are given food and drink. It sounds a bit like Halloween for adults. Here in La Rochelle, it was only one afternoon and a bit later than mid-way through Lent. However, everyone was enjoying themselves and afterwards the cafés were full.

Some people were eating fish-shaped cakes and chocolates. We discovered another old feature of French life—les poissons d'avril. This tradition may have originated in 1564 when King Charles IX decided that the new year should begin on the 1^st of January instead of the customary 1^st of April. It took time for this to be accepted and people continued to give each other New Year's' gifts on April 1st. These gifts were often food and as it was still Lent, fish was a favourite offering. As the practice of New Year's on January 1^st took hold, the April 1^st gifts turned into jokes played on those who were silly enough to be following the old custom. Today in France, children still pin paper fish on people's backs and shout out:"Poisson d'avril!" And the shops are full of fish in all sorts of different creations. Some are made of bread.