Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years… The holiday season is dead and gone, with not a hint of revelry on the horizon until Valentine’s Day, right? Ah, but that’s because you don’t know about La Fête des Rois.

Even as a kid, I always thought of La Fête des Rois as a sort of “hangover holiday,” not because there’s any drinking involved, but because it seemed like a sort of nicotine patch for celebration addicts, allowing sugar-saturated kids a way to wean themselves slowly off the adrenaline rush of the holiday season.

Theoretically, this holiday exists in America, too — usually known as Twelfth Night or Epiphany. Officially, it marks the arrival of the three kings/wisemen in Bethlehem to worship the baby Jesus, but in most American households, it’s little more than a reminder to take down that tree before the living room carpet becomes completely obscured by pine needles.

In France, however, it’s a bonafide holiday with its own traditions — foremost of which is the Galette des Rois. This round, sweet puff pastry is usually filled with an almond paste called frangipane, and they are traditionally made with a fève or bean cooked inside.  Whoever finds the bean is made king for the night!

Nowadays, however, the “fève” is usually a hunk of plastic in the shape of some totally inappropriate cultural icon.  As you can see in the pictures, we got Mme Agecanonix -- a minor character from the much beloved Asterix comic books. Mme Agecanonix is a fictional character from a Pagan society — the status-hungry trophy-wife to the oldest man in town. What does she have to do with the Christ-child’s royal visitors? Beats me.