• Celebrate à la française 

A small selection of « world » days coming up over the next couple of months:

• Le 9 octobre : Journée Mondiale de la Poste:  World Mail Service Day
  Private postal services existed in France from the Middle Ages. Fees, paid for by the recipient, appeared from 1627. Postage stamps were introduced in 1849, the first ever stamp being the “Black Ceres”. France was one of the founding members of the Union postale universelle, created in Berne, Switzerland on 9th October 1874, this date becoming World Mail Service Day.
  To help its customers reduce their carbon footprint, La Poste now offers a simple online tool to measure the environmental impact of what you are sending, starting with your choice of packaging and going right through to its delivery at destination.

• Le 14 octobre : Journée mondiale de l’oeuf: World Egg Day
  0, 1, 2, 3: Eggs in France have a code noted on them which indicates how the laying hens are raised: organic, free range, in sheds, in cages. However, the real philosophical problem of this day is, of course, which came first, the chicken or the egg, because – and you must read this out aloud –  “Sans elles, pas d’oeufs, et sans eux, pas d’ailes”. (Raymond Devos)
  sans elles (the hens), pas d’œufs (no eggs), et sans eux (the eggs), pas d’ailes (no wings ie hens).
• Le 15 octobre : Journée mondiale du lavage des mains: Hand Washing Day
  The Handwashing with Soap Day dates from 2008 as an official celebration and reminder of an easy, effective and affordable way to prevent the spread of disease. The Covid era has emphasized the importance of hand hygiene.
• Le 15 octobre : Journée internationale des fossiles : International Fossil Day
  In 2019, French palaeontologists discovered the giant 2 metre long thigh bone of a sauropod near the city of Cognac. The sauropod was a plant-eating animal with a long neck and tail, weighing 40 to 50 tonnes, that was widespread 140 million years ago. More than 7,500 fossils of more than 40 different species have been found near Cognac since 2010.  Perhaps this could explain the very specific terroir of the area.
• Le 16 octobre:  Journée mondial du pain : World Bread Day
  Bread is such a valued part of French culture that there is a law regarding bread. The Décret Pain (1993) states that traditional baguettes have to be made on the premises where they’re sold, and can only be made with four ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. They can’t be frozen at any stage or contain additives or preservatives, which also means they go stale within 24 hours.
  No, les pantoufles à la baguette are not a French tradition.
• Le 20 octobre : Journée Internationale des Cuisiniers : International Chefs Day
• Le 21 octobre : Journée mondiale des vers de terre : World Earthworm Day
  Earthworms were Darwin’s favourite animal and his 1881 book on earthworms & vegetable mould sold faster – 6,000 copies – in its first year than his book On the Origin of Species.
  Try this tongue twister  about a green earthworm 20 times at 8pm today.
  « Un ver vert verse un verre vers un verrier vers vingt heures ».
• Le 22 octobre: Journée mondiale du champagne : Champagne Day
  This day comes around every 4^th Friday of October. At the moment, the closest celebratory event is a lone Australian group in North Narrabeen, New South Wales.  Take up the challenge and create your own celebration. Have a look at the label. French champagne has to come from the Champagne region of France, otherwise it is just “méthode champenoise”.  Except, of course, if you are in Russia, when the bona fide champagne imports are classed as sparkling wine and the Russian made “shampanskoye” is not. Putin passed a law in July 2020.
• Le 25 octobre:  Journée mondiale des pâtes : World Pasta Day
  Each French person consumes 8 kilos of pasta per year. 80% eat pasta regularly. Only the Italians eat more. Comforting, easy and versatile, pasta makes even children happy. Escoffier was the first French cook to devote an entire section to pasta in his Guide culinaire (1903)

• Le 31 octobre: Halloween :
  Halloween is not a French tradition – La Toussaint on November 1^st is more important.
  However, if you decide to go trick or treating, the phrase to use is des bonbons ou un sort (sweets or a spell). And here are some very simple Halloween jokes.

♦ Quel est le plat préféré des vampires?
– Des croque-monsieur.

♦ Tu as la trouille, toi ?
– Moi ? Non, mais j’ai la citrouille !!!

♦ Que dit un vampire en quittant sa victime ?
– Merci beau « cou » !

♦ Que chante Dracula le jour d’Halloween ?
– Boire un p’tit « cou » c’est agréable…

♦ Un guide fait visiter un grand château en ruine à un groupe de touristes.
Une dame du groupe dit :
– J’ai peur, il paraît qu’il y a des fantômes ici…
Le guide lui répond d’un air rassurant :
– Non, croyez-moi, ça fait 300 ans que j’habite ici et je n’en ai jamais rencontré !