I get a monthly e-mail message on the first of the month from Rosa Jackson, a Canadian who has run the Le Petit Farcis market and cooking school in both Nice and Paris since she moved to France almost 30 years ago. She’s also got upcoming foodie tours in the works that she’ll lead for Georgia (the one in Europe), Morocco, and Japan.
Today’s message talks about an April Fool’s tradition in Nice, where people try to stick a paper fish on others’ backs. At least it’s paper, and not a live sardine! And the daily noon cannon in Nice goes off instead at 11:00 A.M., throwing off anyone who’s not tied to their watch or cell phone clock. Here’s the whole description:
If you have spent time in Nice, you might have been startled by the sound of the noon cannon, which has gone off with a bang on Castle Hill since the late 19th century. The cannon was the brainchild of Englishman Sir Thomas Coventry, who was fascinated by astronomy and timekeeping, but if you ask any Niçois they will say he intended it as a signal for his sociable wife Elizabeth to come home for lunch!
The only day that the cannon does not sound at noon is on April 1st, when it goes off at 11am, confusing both humans and birds. If you walk up to the park — there is a staircase next to my cooking studio — you will find the full history of the cannon explained. In France, an April Fool’s joke is known as a poisson d’avril because of the tradition of sneakily sticking a paper fish onto someone’s back. You will also find fish-shaped chocolates, known as friture, sold in chocolateries — I can get on board with any excuse to eat more chocolate.