Ma Vie in France

Did you know that today is Pentecost? Do you think anyone you know who is not Christian knows it? I can guarantee you almost every French person, Christian or not, knows that this weekend is Pentecost. Why? Because the day after, called Pentecost Monday, is a bank holiday in France.   France has, in addition to Pentecost Monday, five other Catholic bank holidays in the calendar year: Christmas, Easter Monday, Ascension Thursday, the Assumption of Mary in August, and Toussaint in November. Any tourist visiting France can also plainly see its ties to Catholicism in its magnificent cathedrals. And yet, in spite of this visible Catholic tradition in France, one of the most paradoxical things about living here is the effort the state makes to erase any signs or references to religion. Officially, the French state is laïque , a term which can be roughly translated to the (enforced) separation of church and state. Laïcité is technically a term used in the French constit...

This summer, I attended my first French wedding. In many ways it closely resembled what I would consider a typical American service: big white dress for the bride, ceremony at the church, pictures that seemed to take way too long… There was one major difference, however. Unlike the U.S., a wedding held in France outside of the town hall (our equivalent of a court- house) is not considered valid. Every couple must first proceed to the town hall to be married by a state-appointed officiant, and then can have a religious ceremony if they choose. For this particular wedding, the bride was from a small town where the officiant had known her and her family since she was little. Still, there was a slight ‘assembly line’ feel to the wedding, since we had to wait for the 3:00 wedding to leave the town hall, and after, had to make room for the 5:00 wedding. All huddled into the small ‘wedding room’ (standing room only for most wedding guests), we listened to what appeared to me as ...