Word of the day - Rosenmontag

So today is Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) and last Thursday was Schmutziger Donnerstag (dirty, fat or greasy Thursday - jeudigras rather than mardigras) in those places in Germany which celebrate carnival.
Interestingly, although Bremen is not a strongly Roman Catholic place - unlike most of the places where carnival is marked in Germany - it also has a strong carnival tradition.
Meanwhile the poster is from Dunkerque which has a very strong carnival tradition with tradtional street "cohue" which is something like a musical scrum. It was interesting being in Bremen and thinking that Dunkerque was just further round the coastline even though that means three countries away. I suppose in lots of ways there were more links between the seafaring cities and trading hanseatic cities like Bremen and Bruges than there are today where national boundaries separate some of us from much older traditions.
Anyway pancakes tomorrow and another splendid word shrove Tuesday. Meanwhile here in Geneva traditional carnival food would be "les merveilles" (marvels) which are quite addictive crispy deep fried flat pancakes dusted in icing sugar. "Les bugnes" which you get more in France are small fresh doughnuts also drenched in icing sugar.