Poisson d'Avril is one of those ridiculous holiday traditions that I think must have been created especially for me. It literally means "April fish," and the classic French prank involves affixing a paper fish to your victim's back, which gives passersby the opportunity to follow them around and giggle for however long it takes the poor sap to figure it out. At that point you gleefully shriek "poisson d'avril!!!!", and may choose to make amends by exchanging chocolate fish (maybe the leftover ones from your Donald-Duck-on-a-moped Easter candy). April Fools' Day in America is downright cruel by comparison, what with people telling each other blatant lies and then laughing at the looks of horror and dismay on their loved ones' faces as they assure them they were "Just kidding! I DIDN'T run over your dog! Haha! April foooools!"
Needless to say I could not let April Fish Day pass uncelebrated. Before leaving for Susan's class at the Musee D'Orsay, I cut out four paper fish from the pages of my notebook and personalized them with googly eyes and scales. I then hid them in the notebook and ever-so-craftily removed them one at a time when our group had assembled at the museum, sticking them in turn on the unsuspecting backs of Lena, Evelyn, Erin, and Ornella. They didn't notice for a good twenty minutes at least, and the sheer glee I experienced when they confusedly peeled the taped fish off their clothes made me immediately understand why this tradition took off. "POISSON D'AVRIL!" I exploded in triumph, as nearby museum patrons looked on in surprise.
Apparently the other girls had not heard of the custom, though, so then I had to explain that it was a legitimate French prank and not some bizarre product of my imagination. Sadly no one had a camera, so I was not able to get pictures of my sneaky work. Later that night when my host dad called me into the kitchen for dinner, I was delighted to see that the main course was salmon. "Is this an April Fish?!" I said, smirking, and my host dad roared with laughter. "Yes, but at least it is real!" he said, plunking a portion of it onto my plate.
The moral of this story is: watch out next April 1st, because when I go back to the States I don't intend to leave the poissons behind me. They will be behind you. On your backs. POISSON D'AVRIIIIIIIL.
2 comments:
I agree, "April Fish!" is so much better than, "I just ran over your dog...sorry...." So glad you are getting into the spirit of things there, and endearing yourself to your French dad.
How did the girls not know about Poisson d'Avril? Every French class I had from 4th grade to high school taught it, usually involving wacky hijinks.
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