“Joyeux Halloween!”
Although we celebrated Halloween American-style chez ma famille, the trend of fêting Halloween seems to be démodé in France (ma mère française explained that Halloween was très à la mode about 10-15 years ago). I saw ONE group of trick or treaters “chez moi” and we had to scramble to find some treats for them. Instead of “trick or treat” French youngsters say “un bonbon ou un sort” or more politely, “je pourrais avoir des bonbons, s’il vous plait?” Ma soeur française wanted to throw a proper Halloween party so we made rocky road brownies, chocolate chip cookies, ordered pizza, carved Jack O’Lanterns and did a little trick or treating. Big difference: the only places we hit up for candy were restaurants or businesses, not private homes. We capped the night off with a little karaoke!
Check out the photos to see how our celebration in France compares to how you celebrated Halloween in the U.S.
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- The first dessert my family requested was brownies! (Merci beaucoup Melissa Anderson for your recette!)
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- Chocolate chips are cher- I’m paying my keep in cookies!
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- “Un bonbon ou un sort!”
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- Pretty similar but the toppings can be quite different. Mine had ham. Eggs, lardons (like bacon hunks), fromage de chevre or camembert, and shellfish are popular options.
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- Why does the guy on the pizza box look like George Clooney?! No one knows but even my French family recognized him!
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- I avoid saying “citrouille,” the French word for pumkin, because with an American accent it sounds funny! My family purposely asks me to say this word JUST so they can laugh at me. I pointed out that the first time they said “Harry Potter” I had NO IDEA what they had just said until someone faked a British accent and tried again!. “Citroooouuuuille!” My family says that I must “arrive” at being able to say this before I leave.
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- Lois and Clarisse carving a pumpkin. It was the first time either of them had touched the inside of a pumpkin- they pronounced it “degoutant!”
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- I made roasted pumpkin seeds. It was a new discovery for them. Clarisse was skeptical but decided it was like popcorn!
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- The final product!
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- View of the town at night as we hurried back home.