What do the French do on Labour Day?
May 1st is a holiday in France. It is ” La Fête du Travail”, the equivalent of your Labour Day. And what do we do on that special occasion beside not going to work?
Even though most people enjoy that day as a family day and stay home, it is also the opportunity to gather in big cities and join a huge parade where Trade Unions, social organizations and associations, as well as political parties (mainly leftist parties) walk in memory of all the workers’ fights to improve their social conditions. It is generally a joyful march instead of a protest, but the recent concerns about the bad economic results and the fear of recession will be in the spotlight today.
May 1st is also the day when everybody buys and offers a bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley, the traditional flower on that day. For 24 hours only, anybody is auhorized to sell these flowers anywhere on the streets, and you can see teenagers everywhere trying to sell their cute bouquets to get some extra pocket money. Florists sell more elaborate compositions. By offering lilies-of-the-valley , we wish good luck for the all year ! We also send card decorated with this flower whenever relatives or friends are too far away to receive the actual flower.
So happy May 1st and good luck to all of you!
The picture comes from www.folp.free.fr
My name is Jackie Grandchamps. In 2003, I founded French Escapade, offering another way to travel in small groups of 8. "Don't be a tourist, be our guest" is the moto and spirit of my company.
Check www.frenchescapade.com
Through this blog, I will provide information about France, Belgium, California, (soon Italy) but also some stories from my guests on the tours.
Learn more about the company in the French Escapade section of this blog.