Happy Easter – Joyeuses Pâques and a little about the Flying Bells

We hope you are enjoying a delightful Easter with family and friends.  As we all move into a lovely long weekend, we thought we would share a little about the tradition of Easter in France and how it is celebrated a little differently.

Just like in Australia, in France, the Children’s Easter Egg Hunt (la chasse aux œufs) is a greatly anticipated event, however, instead of the Easter Bunny deliverying the delightfully yummy eggs, it’s the Flying Bells!  Children are delighted on Easter morning when they hear the church bells ring, as this beautiful sound signifies the return of the ‘Cloche Volant’ or the ‘Flying Bells’ from the Vatican in Rome.  These ‘Flying Bells’ bring with them lots of chocolates in the form of eggs, bells and fish for the children to hunt for in the garden.

In Catholic tradition the Church bells do not ring between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Children grow up learning that the bells fly to Rome on a pair of tiny wings to be blessed and return scattering chocolates randomly around the countryside for all children to find.

As the bells ring across towns and villages on Easter Sunday, the egg hunt begins – usually to the delightful singsong words of children shouting “les cloches sont passées !”.

Happy Easter bunny