Published on Friday 16th of January 2015 by Valerie

La Galette des Rois

Any opportunity not to let the festive season fade away to soon... And what could be better than doing just that the French way with an authentic Galette des Rois!

From the 6th of January to the end of the month, French families gather to share the galette, a French almond based cake with a small ceramic favour (feve in French) hidden inside. Whoever finds it becomes king or queen and there's a crown to go with it...

Fifteen of us were gathered and braving the awful weather at Chalet Beaumartin on Wednesday the 14th of January. As usual, everyone was swiftly engaged in conversation and laughter. The anticipated galettes arrived and were paraded before being cut into slices. The best part of it is probably the mixture of excitement and caution in the eating process: I could be the one with the feve but I'd better make sure I don't swallow it! Oh, and I'd better watch out for my teeth! A king or queen with a broken tooth just won't do... Luckily, these fears rarely come true. Nobody has ever died of swallowing the feve and yet, it does happen. As for the teeth, well... Just be careful!

Everything went smoothly on this occasion and Mary became our queen with full crowning ceremony. There should have been another king or queen as there were two galettes but either the second feve was missing or someone might actually have swallowed it. There has been no incident report so far...

It seems that all gathered there had a good time and made some new friends. The conversations continued to flow and when the time came to leave the Chalet Beaumartin, we were ready to embrace wind, rain and snow.