Known as the feast of Saint Valentine (the feast of Saint Valentine), Valentine’s Day, or some version of it, has been celebrated in France for hundreds of years. While the origins and customs associated with the holiday are a source of debate, it is generally considered a day for romance, especially in the larger cities of France.
However, unlike in the United States, where Valentine’s Day is often a time to express love of friendship, the holiday of Valentine’s Day in France is dedicated exclusively to romantic love for a loved one. As a result, February is usually a popular time for couples to visit France, but it can be a pretty lonely time to be in the country if you’re single.
If you plan to travel to France on February 14 with your special someone this year, there are many romantic ways to spend the holidays. From visiting some of the most intimate destinations in the countryside, including the city of Valentine’s Day, to enjoying an exquisite meal in a Parisian restaurant, check out these recommendations for a romantic trip to France this February.
Meet Valentine: the legend behind the holidays
Before leaving for France for a romantic trip this Valentine’s Day, it is important to understand the cultural significance of Valentine’s Day. However, two important historical figures claim the honor of being this saint: Saint Valentine of Trevi and the martyr Saint Valentine of Rome.
Valentine de Trevi was appointed bishop in 197 AD and died after being imprisoned, tortured and beheaded on the Via Flaminia in Rome for being a Christian. While not as popular as Rome’s Valentine, Trevi’s Valentine is revered among devout religious groups in France.
Rome’s Valentine, on the other hand, has been the star of many legends, one of which revolves around his imprisonment for defying Emperor Claudius, who had decided that single men were better soldiers, thus forbidding marriage for men. young men. Valentine continued to perform secret marriages for young lovers. Another version involves Valentine helping Christians escape Roman prisons, which ironically led to his own imprisonment. He fell in love with a girl and wrote to her before her death, signing “From your Valentine.”
Now, Valentine is remembered as the patron saint of love, lovers and happy marriages, but it also helps beekeepers and those suffering from epilepsy, plague and fainting, as well as people who travel.
Learn why La Fête de Saint Valentine is February 14
Another important facet of Valentine’s Day to know before you go on vacation in France is that it is celebrated on February 14 for a variety of reasons. While many believe that February 14 was the day that Valentine was martyred (or buried), another explanation holds that the holiday was used by the Church to cleanse (and capitalize on) the pagan celebration of Lupercalia .
Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to the Roman god of agriculture, Faun, and the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, which happened on February 15. On this day, the order of Roman priests called Luperci went to the sacred cave where it is believed that two small children were cared for by a she-wolf (magnifying glass in Latin).
During the festival, the priests sacrificed a goat (for fertility) and a dog (for purification). They cut the goatskin into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood, and took to the streets, beating any woman who passed by with the goatskin to make women fertile the next year.
Although the festival was banned in the 5th century AD, at the same time, the Pope declared February 14 as Valentine’s Day.
Discover the origins: who celebrated Valentine’s Day first
Valentine’s Day and romantic France go hand in hand, although England has a role to play in establishing the connection between Valentine’s Day and love, and there are many myths and legends revolving around the origins. In the Middle Ages, the exchange of love letters and love tokens on Valentine’s Day is believed to have originated with the start of the mating season for birds. Soon it was the turn of the troubadours and poets of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries who extolled the virtues of courtly love.
It was also the Englishman who claimed the first recorded association of Valentine’s Day with romantic love, as appears in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Parlement of Foules” (1382), who wrote: “For this was Valentine’s Day when every bird he comes to choose his partner ”. But as he was probably referring to May, it is the French who take the honor for the first official recognition.
In Paris, a High Court of Love was established on Valentine’s Day in 1400. The court dealt with love contracts and betrayals with selected judges in a very different way: they came courtesy of the wishes of women on the basis of a poetry reading. The First Surviving Valentine’s Day is a 15th century poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife as she languished in the Tower of London. He was captured after the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and wrote to her saying: “I am fed up with love, my very kind Valentine.”
William Shakespeare also refers to Valentine’s Day in Ophelia’s lament in Hamlet: “Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day / All morning at the time of day / And I a maid at your window / To be your Valentine” .
Avoid “drawing for” love in France
The French also invented a particular Valentine’s Day custom called “para drawing” in which single people gathered in opposite houses and shouted the name of their chosen partner through the windows. It all seemed very romantic, but the charm was spoiled when the man decided his choice was not up to par and proceeded to abandon his Valentine.
Naturally, the women retaliated and the custom developed of building a large bonfire where they burned the image of the now hated man while shouting abuse at him, his family, his manhood, and anything they could think of to insult his pride. . It became quite an embarrassing and heated event, which is why it was wisely banned by the French government.
Fortunately, you won’t have to worry too much about avoiding raffles for ceremonies during your trip to France this Valentine’s Day; However, you may come across some smaller villages that still practice these old-fashioned customs.
Visit San Valentín, the town of love
Today, Valentine’s Day is celebrated all over France and is a good excuse to buy your loved one some special chocolates or some beautifully arranged flowers. However, France also has a special Valentine’s Day event that no one else in the world can claim: the Garden of Valentine’s Lovers (Garden des Amoureux).
The small town of Saint Valentin is located in Indre, in the central Val de Loire region, and despite having a population of just 280 people, it has made the most of this February event since the 1980s. The annual Lovers festival ‘Garden focuses on Valentine’s Day and features thousands of fresh flowers and flower arrangements to celebrate the season of love.
