The things that are lost in translation. Or just lost on me. So many things. I wasn’t sure if my daughter was kidding, or what, when she said that I should use a photo of a fish for an April Fool’s Day post. Sure enough, poisson d’avril, celebrated on April 1st (in France, primarily) is a thing. How did I not know this?
There is so much material on the subject, I can’t believe I’ve never come across it before. A Camera Obscura piece, “Why April Fools Day in France Involves Fish Pranks” offers a few theories about the origin of the tradition. Whether tied to the start of the fishing season, to a pagan festival in ancient Rome, to the vernal equinox, to fish eaten during Lent, or to the use of the Gregorian calendar, I may be late to the game, but I’m sharing (above) a photo in the spirit of poisson d’avril.
Photo: Taken by me, somewhere in Nova Scotia in 2019. Photo modification by my daughter, sitting next to me as I post this. 🙂
a few words ... from Montréal 