No. 228-229: La Fête du Muguet and Faire le Pont

Now that May is here, we may not be able to enjoy oysters anymore, but in exchange, it is the relaxing month to faire le pont: literally “making a bridge” or bridging the gap, which is a fun way of saying: to take a long (at least four-day) weekend.

This particular May, we are lucky to have three chances to make the bridge.

As I have mentioned before, the French are very good at les vacances (vacation) and have a rather liberal holiday schedule. They certainly know how to make the most of the random holidays that fall mid-week. For example, cette année, la fête du travail est jeudi, donc on va faire le pont, get out-of-town and not come back until Sunday night.

Which is a pretty sweet way to turn a one-day holiday into a four-day break.

Vocabulaire

cette année, la fête du travail est jeudi, donc on va faire le pont: this year, Labor Day is on a Thursday, so we will make the bridge (take a long weekend)

la Fête du Muguet, also called la Fête du Travail: May Day or Labor Day is a public holiday to honor workers and their rights and to campaign for continuing policies that support workers. The French also sell and give lily-of-the-valley flowers to loved ones and friends on this day. For an excellent explanation of la Fête du Muguet, please check in with the Curious Rambler.

muguet: lilly-of-the-valley