The Ascension ...

In Christianity the Ascension is one of the great feasts in the liturgical calendar and refers to the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven forty days after his resurrection from the dead.

For all French, the Ascension is a public holiday, but it is before all a Christian event.
The Ascension corresponds to the day of the rise in Jesus to the sky. (Ascension comes from Latin ascendere, to rise.)
The Ascension is celebrated 40 days after Easter (or more simply Thursday of 6th of Easter).
Indeed, the Ascension is always celebrated Thursday, for the greatest happiness of small and large which has an occasion of “bridge” before the estival holidays! Forty days is a figure in charge of direction in the Bible, it indicates a time of test or revelation.
Forty days is also a figure very present in many brandy receipts and various alcohols (for example: 40 vervain bits + 40 pieces of sugar, to leave during 40 days in a brandy bottle….)

Among Christians, this period of the Ascension corresponds to the “rogations” (the Latin verb “rogare” means “to require”). It was about one period of prayer and interrogation of the stars in order to know what the sky reserved to the men. It was also the occasion to request to avoid the calamities.