Poisson d'Avril

Some people Don't like fish.

 

 But I hope you are a fan of fish, because we have a few more.

You thought we were all done with the fish? No, no, no. This is the big fish day, April 1.  Here's an explanation of April fish from an earlier post.

Back in the old days in France (up until 1564), the new year was celebrated on April first, based on the Julian calendar. That was before King Charles IX came along and decided that everybody should be following the Gregorian calendar, which starts the new year on the first day of January. Not everyone welcomed this change, or so the story goes, and some people continued to celebrate April 1 as the first day of the year. Allegedly, those people were mocked and referred to as April fools. Whatever the case, it became a tradition to do things such as pasting a fish on unsuspecting people's backs on April 1, and calling them a Poisson d'Avril or an April Fish. The symbol of the fish may also have been connected with Jesus Christ.

There is another theory that the traditions were inspired by the abundance of newly-hatched fish in French rivers in the Spring. These fish, who had not yet acquired their stream smarts, were easy to catch, and referred to as Poisson d'Avril. Because of the fish, it became customary to fool people on April first. It's still a tradition to give chocolate fish as a present and at one time it was also very popular to send, often anonymously, postcards featuring fish. Somewhere along the line, these cards also became romantic, with the fish symbolizing remembrance and secret feelings. Unfortunately, the tradition of April fish cards in France has slowly faded away. What a shame.

And here's what happens when postcard photographers have too much wine with lunch.  I imagine them posing this poor fish on his Vespa, laughing uproariously, and then cooking him with the parsley and whatever wine remained.