section européenne Lycée VINCI à AMBOISE

Groundhog Day, on  February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States.

It is also a legend that started  centuries ago , its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates.

Myths such as this one tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.

If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

Groundhog Day  began around 1887.The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, with Punxsutawney Phil.

Groundhog Day, already a widely recognized  tradition, received widespread attention as a result of the 1993 film Groundhog Day. with Bill Murray .

Last Friday, as the sun rose at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania, the groundhog's handlers -- known as the "Inner Circle" -- coaxed him out of his hole to issue his forecast just before 7:25 a.m. Eastern Time. Spectators, seemingly unfazed by the bitter cold, watched and danced to music as the handlers announced Phil's prediction.