Coming from the French word terre for “soil,” the word terroir originally described the special characteristics of a region, or piece of land, which gave different varieties of wine, coffee and tea their individuality. (Soil, climate, position, regional traditions….)
Each year, the Ermitage de la Saint Ferréol bursts with life with the annual Festa Major. Tradition, religion, food and drink… it’s a firm favourite with the locals.
The 11th September, the Diada de Catalunya, is a national holiday throughout Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
What do wooden crutches, miniature boats and faint words scrawled on an altar have in common? Each one is a thank you to God or a saint for divine intervention.
The 15th August is the festival of l’Assomption – a jour férié (public holiday) celebrated by Catholics throughout France and commemorating the departure of Mary from this life and the assumption of her body into heaven.
Although France has been laïque (secular) since 1905, there are a huge number of festivals and traditions based around the lives, accomplishments or remarkable events that happened to various saints.
Gégants are enormous painted figures, several metres tall, constructed on a wooden framework with heads made from paper maché and plaster of paris – a tradition which goes back to the Middle Ages, depicting religious figures in parades.
Today the term is also used for more popular get-togethers such as the meeting of dancers to perform the sardane.
The poor were starving to death on the streets of Paris. In the royal palace, the king’s breakfast consisted of 4 chops, a full chicken, six poached eggs and a slice of ham, washed down with a bottle and a half of champagne.
Despite it’s beginnings in Christianity, the Feux de la Saint Jean is linked with ancient practices and white magic