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Category: Holidays

Legends of St. Nick and his Evil Sidekicks

12 December 2021 Margo Lestz

Legend tells us St. Nick was a kind man who loved children and rescued them from harm. But in parts of Europe, he traveled with an evil sidekick.

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Thanksgiving and Turkeys: Can You Answer These Five Questions?

25 November 2021 Margo Lestz

The fourth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving Day in America – and that means turkey! If you think you know all about Thanksgiving, see if you can answer these five questions…

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Fabergé Easter Eggs Were Tokens of Love

3 April 2021 Margo Lestz

I’m sure you’ve seen images of those fabulous Fabergé eggs gleaming with gold, and dripping with diamonds. But did you know that they were created as Russian Easter egg love tokens?

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Christmas Dinner, Goose Clubs, and Turkey Drives

22 December 2020 Margo Lestz

Henry VIII is credited with being the first monarch to have turkey for his Christmas dinner. But for most of Henry’s subjects, goose was the favored holiday bird…

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Goats, Donkeys, Horses, and Reindeer: Santa’s Animal Helpers

11 December 2020 Margo Lestz

Reindeer weren’t always Santa’s animal of choice. Before the reindeer, there were other more common animals such as goats, donkeys, and horses…

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Twelve Days of Christmas Predict the Future

2 January 2020 Margo Lestz

Everyone knows about the partridge in the pear tree, but during the Middle Ages the twelve days of Christmas also predicting the future…

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History of the Christmas Tree: From UK to Germany and Back

14 December 2019 Margo Lestz

An 8th century priest, a 16th century religious reformer, and the Victorian royals all played a role in the history of the Christmas tree.

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British Christmas Crackers: Make Your Holiday Pop

7 December 2019 Margo Lestz

In 1847 Tom Smith was inspired by French candies and crackling logs. He put them together and the Christmas cracker was born.

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A Brief History of Halloween

27 October 2019 Margo Lestz

Halloween’s roots go back more than 1,000 years to a pagan Celtic festival of the dead.

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Why Carved Pumpkins are Called Jack-o’-Lanterns: An Irish Legend

19 October 2019 Margo Lestz

Ever wonder why those carved pumpkins are called jack-o’-lanterns? This Irish legend explains it all…

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Easter Bunny with sack of eggs

Does the Easter Bunny Lay Easter Eggs?

20 April 2019 Margo Lestz

Does a bunny delivering eggs seem normal to you?…

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Ben Franklin and Daylight Saving Time

10 March 2019 Margo Lestz

See what Ben Franklin had to say about daylight hours…

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Boxing Day: What’s it all About?

27 December 2018 Margo Lestz

In the UK, the 26th of December is a public holiday known as Boxing Day…

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Christmas Reading

16 December 2018 Margo Lestz

A list of Christmas articles to help you get into the spirit of the season…

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Dickens and His Christmas Carol

9 December 2018 Margo Lestz

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens might just be the best known Christmas story out there. Find out the story behind the story…

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The Broom: A Halloween Poem

27 October 2018 Margo Lestz

A Halloween poem for you…

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Who Was Saint Patrick?

16 March 2018 Margo Lestz

Digging into his history a bit, I found that this Irish saint was quite an interesting fella…

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Vinegar Valentines

11 February 2018 Margo Lestz

Instead of syrupy sweet declarations of love, the Victorians sent cards that left a decidedly sour taste in the mouth. They were called vinegar valentines.

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New Year’s Day, Calendar Years, and the British Tax Year

31 December 2017 Margo Lestz

January 1 has been known as New Year’s Day since the Roman times. But that didn’t necessarily mean it was the first day of the new year…

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Happy Holidays

22 December 2017 Margo Lestz

I just love the festive, Christmas season. The sights, sounds, and smells always seems to lift my spirits…

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Wassail and Wassailing

9 December 2017 Margo Lestz

When wandering through a Christmas market on a chilly winter’s day, nothing tastes better or warms you up like a hot, spiced cider…

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The Provence Christmas Story

2 December 2017 Margo Lestz

You may know the traditional Biblical Christmas story, but in Provence, there is a bit more to it…

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History of Valentine’s Day

9 February 2017 Margo Lestz

Who was Saint Valentine? And why is February 14 so special? Well, let’s have a look at the history of Valentine’s day and see if we can find out…

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Saint Nicolas and Pere Fouettard, Father Whipper

Father Whipper: St Nick’s Evil Helper

29 December 2016 Margo Lestz

Misbehaving children have to be very careful the first part of December, or St. Nick might send his not-so-nice “helper” to see them…

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British Christmas Panto: An Outrageous Holiday Tradition

16 December 2016 Margo Lestz

British Christmas pantos are filled with slapstick humor, cross-dressing actors, jokes about current events, and audience participation…

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British Christmas Pudding and Pie

3 December 2016 Margo Lestz

Christmas pudding and mince pies are a big part of the British holiday season. Let’s have a look at these two essentially British desserts…

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Holiday Musings

23 November 2016 Margo Lestz

Musings about books and winter holidays…

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Befana on broom

Befana: Italy’s Good, January Witch

1 January 2016 Margo Lestz

On the 6th of January, Italian children await a very witchy-looking old lady called La Befana…

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Happy Crappy Christmas

22 December 2015 Margo Lestz

Two quirky Christmas traditions from Barcelona…

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Couple under mistletoe

Mistletoe and a Flying Donkey

18 December 2015 Margo Lestz

Mistletoe in French is called gui. This ball of vegetation that grows high in trees has been considered magical since ancient days…

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First Thanksgivings, Huguenots, and Alligators

20 November 2015 Margo Lestz

The Pilgrims are credited with serving the first Thanksgiving meal… but could the French have beaten them to it? And what was on their table?…

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Margo’s Musings

29 October 2015 Margo Lestz

Autumn is definitely in the air. The drop in temperature makes me want to curl up beside my (imaginary) fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book.
And speaking of books…

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Carnival Music and Gourds in Nice, France

21 February 2015 Margo Lestz

Every year, the Nice carnival has a different theme, but music is always important…

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Sat evening post 1920 & 1922 (2)

St Nicholas… Santa Claus… Father Christmas

11 December 2014 Margo Lestz

Even though some of the American/British folkloric characters don’t come to France, you’ll be happy to know that the jolly old man in the red suit does. Of course, he goes by a different name: in France he’s known as Père Noël, or Father Christmas.

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charles ix, happy may day, muguet, lilly of the valley 02

May First and the Spirit of Labor Day

30 April 2014 Margo Lestz

May 1st, a day to take off work and give out flowers….

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American Easter Bunny vs French Easter Bell

19 April 2014 Margo Lestz

There is no Easter Bunny in France but fear not, the French have come up with another method to distribute those Easter eggs

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April fool or april fish

April Fool or April Fish?

28 March 2014 Margo Lestz

In many countries, the first day of April is a day to play harmless jokes on family and friends. This usually consists of telling a farfetched story in such a way that it sounds like it could be true. When the other person falls for our joke, we exclaim…

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venice carnival

Carnival Time in Venice, Italy

8 March 2014 Margo Lestz

Carnival celebrations take place around the world, but when we think of elegant masks and beautiful costumes, we think of Venice…

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flower parade nice france

Carnival Kings, Silly Strings, and Blooming Things

29 January 2014 Margo Lestz

In Nice, France we are preparing for the carnival and that means another royal visit.  Every year in February, a different king comes to town

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king cake - galette des rois

The King Cake holds a Surprise

11 January 2014 Margo Lestz

In France, it’s a tradition to eat pies and cakes containing little “prizes” in January. This practice can be traced back to Roman times and their winter solstice celebration…

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Thirteen Desserts? That’s my kind of Meal!

23 December 2013 Margo Lestz

Christmas time in Provence and the south of France is full of traditions and, as with most good traditions, food is usually involved. Miniature wheat

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Santons: The Little Saints of Provence

6 December 2013 Margo Lestz

In many parts of the world, Nativity scenes make up a part of the Christmas decoration but in Provence, they are taken to the extreme…

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George W Bush and turkey pardon

Turkeys and Presidential Pardons

24 November 2013 Margo Lestz

Turkeys have long been given as gifts to US presidents. But in recent years, presidents have begun to pardon a live turkey the day before Thanksgiving.

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Guy Fawkes Finally has his Day

5 November 2013 Margo Lestz

Remember, remember the 5th of November…A British revolutionary executed in 1605 comes back as the face of the Anonymous movement.

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