Galette des Rois

Epiphany, on the twelfth night after Christmas, is celebrated throughout Provence. Three clay figurines, representing the Rois mages (the three kings—Melchior, Balthazar, and Gaspard), are added to the Crèche in each home. Families and friends celebrate la fête des Rois, which ends with a big cake in which a tiny china figure or dried white bean is hidden. Whoever finds the figure is the sacred king of the day. He chooses his queen, receives a toast, and must invite the whole