flowers, bridges and fêtes

I need to catch up on a few posts I've been meaning to do over the past few days. First of all, Happy Month of May to everyone! April went out very rainy this year, but these first few days of May have been full of sunshine. (Well ... OK ... it poured all day on the 1st, but the 2nd and 3rd have been lovely.)

In France, May 1st is a holiday ... it's Labor Day. So -- of course -- no one works. Philipp and I spent the afternoon at his parents' house, having a yummy lunch and visiting with Laurence's friend, Claire, and her family. The tradition on May 1st is to give "muguets" (lily of the valley) to everyone you see that day, because it brings luck. So I went out in the garden to cut some just before we left for Monique and Robert's. Of course, it was only drizzling when I went outside, but in the next minute-and-a-half, the drizzle developed into full-blown pouring rain, so I quickly cut a few more flowers and dashed back into the house. When we got home, we found a bunch of muguets that Philipp's friend Maurice had left in our door for me, so our house smells wonderful.

If you ever come to live and work in France, or if you are ever here and need any kind of administrative thing done on the day before or after a national holiday, here's an important expression to know: "faire le pont". Literally, it means to make the bridge. And it refers to the way the French like to turn a mid-week holiday into a 4-day weekend. And it also prevents them from having to do too much work in the month of May. Because here, we celebrate Labor Day on the 1st of May, and the "Victory in 1945" (you can keep all your sarcastic white flag jokes, merci beaucoup) on the 8th. That makes two Thursday holidays in a row, and therefore two weeks of 4-day weekends. (I don't know if they can manage to pull off the same when the holidays fall on Wednesdays ... I'll have to ask.)

This week, I did not faire le pont. I had a whopping one class ... two hours of work ... on Friday. But next week, if things progress well at the castle, Philipp and I will take our 4-day weekend at Ste. Marie. This is a big couple weeks at the chantier (work zone) ... they've removed half of the old slate roof and beams (I'm not really sure what's holding the other half of the roof in place, but they're hoping for no strong wind!) and next week they'll put up new the beams and roof.

So, we've learned about flowers and bridges, now it's time for me to wish ...

Bonne Fête, Philipp !!!

In France, every day is designated as the day of a certain saint. And when it's the saint you're named after, you get to celebrate your fête! It's kind of like celebrating two birthdays. Basically on your fête, your friends and family wish you a "bonne fête", and if you're lucky, someone will give you flowers. Or if you're Philipp, someone (your wife) will give you some white chocolate candy bars and cook you a yummy dinner. I also have a silicone ice cube tray that makes ice in the shape of little dolphins that I'll give him at dinner. (Yes, folks, this is pretty exciting!!)

One problem with being American ... and having an Irish name ... is that I don't have a fête. :( There's no Sainte Kerry. There is a Sainte Elisabeth (my middle name is Elizabeth), but I've never celebrated it. Hmm ... I'll look at my handy-dandy calendar, and see when it is ... because the calendars all list the saints on them. I think it's in the summer ... hmm ... not in summer ... a-ha! ... found it! ... Sainte Elisabeth is November 17th. If you have a first or middle name that sounds remotely French (or not), let me know, and I'll look it up on the calendar for you. And try to remember to wish you a bonne fête that day.