Petite Podcast 39: May Day in France
Janine: Bonjour and welcome to today’s episode of The Good Life France – the petite podcast – a bite-sized episode in which we explore a single topic! I’m your host Janine Marsh, I’m a British writer living in France, and I travel year-round exploring French destinations, history, culture, art and gastronomy and I love to share my discoveries with you alongside my podcast partner Olivier Jauffrit.
Oli: Bonjour tout le monde, yes indeed, welcome to this new petite podcast. Normally our podcasts are a little longer, but we had so many messages asking us to make more podcasts, we decided to create a petite podcast series alongside the usual episodes! So, let’s get going and dive into our first petite podcast topic! Janine tell us about the theme for today’s episode…
Janine: We’re going to explore the traditions of May Day in France, the first of May, and specifically the tradition of giving flowers to friends and loved ones which is unique to France.
Oli: it’s a tale of history, drama and romance… let’s go!
The first of May is a pretty big deal in France. It’s a public holiday for a start. In fact we have four public holidays in France in May – Labour Day, 1st May – Premier Mai as we say in French, Victory in Europe Day 8 May, then we have Ascension Day and Whit Sunday which fall on different days each year. Not bad eh?
Janine: Not bad at all. France is actually pretty generous with its national holidays – there are 14 national holidays a year.
Oli: May 1st was long a pagan festival which celebrated the changing of the dark season to the light season. And in France we celebrate two major things – first it’s the fête du Travail or Labour Day, a celebration of workers rights.
Janine: We have the United States to thank for this event in fact. It was on May 1st 1884 that American workers' unions got together and demanded the introduction of an eight-hour working day. In the US, May 1st was the first day of the accounting year for companies. In 1886, there were widescale demonstrations in support of wage demands in the US again on May 1st.
Oli: The media wasn’t like it is now, but even so in France people heard about the Americans standing up for a better working life. And in 1889, the Government decided to make May Day a day of demonstrations and on May 1 1890 – the first Labour Day was celebrated and people marched for pretty much the same reasons as the Americans.
Janine: In l919 May Day officially became a day off for the French. And in 1948 it became a paid holiday.
Oli: Today it’s a tradition day for demonstrations and protests, especially in Paris – still true to its origins.
Janine: But May Day in France is also a day to celebrate with flowers. Specifically Lily of the flowers.
Oli: Yes indeed – May first is the Fete du Muguet – Festival of the Lily of the Valley. Each May 1st in France, we offer a sprig of these perfumed nodding bells to those we love, our family, and friends.
Janine: This tradition goes back much further than Labour Day. How much further you ask? tradition originate? Well, we can trace it back to the Middle Ages and to a king who was known for one of the bloodiest religious massacres in France’s history: Charles IX (1550-1574), the king who ordered the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in which thousands of Protestants were murdered.
Oli: But he wasn’t always so horrible. Let’s go back to when Charles was a little prince – just 9 years old and much nicer. It was 1560 and in the French countryside, it was customary to give a sprig or branch of some kind of flower on the first day of May. It was meant to chase away the curse of winter and to represent a wish for a fortunate and happy new season.
Janine: That year, the young boy visited Drome in Provence, and he was presented with a sprig of lily of the valley. These flowers were considered a symbol of spring, renewal and good luck in the days of the Celts. Charles was told that the gift would bring him good luck. He was delighted by the gesture and the fragrant flowers that hung like little white bells.
Oli: The next year on May 1st, when he was 10 years old and about to be consecrated as Charles IX, King of France, he decided to give a sprig of the same flower to all of the ladies of the court. And so the lovely practice of handing out lily of the valley flowers on May 1st took root.
Janine: That’s a good pun!
Oli: Thank you! I do try! Do you know what the French word for pun is? It’s calembour!
Janine: I love that word! It’s a woody sort of word! Well Charles didn’t have a long and happy life it has to be said. He had inherited a kingdom that was devastated by the Wars of Religion, and the problems continued throughout his reign. He died at just 23 years old and left a gesture of goodwill for the common people who suffering from all this civil strife, and they were hungry – too much fighting and not enough growing crops – nothing changes does it.
Oli: Hmmm, I wonder what would cheer people up he thought. And On May 1st he ordered his soldiers to hand out sprigs of lily of the valley on the streets of Paris as a wish of good luck and happiness to the people from their king. He was sure this symbol of goodwill would cheer up his subjects. But the people were hungry and they decided to add the flowers to their soup. Unfortunately, the lily of the valley plant is toxic if eaten and many people died from eating his gift.
Janine: I love these little flowers but I never grow them in my garden in case the chickens eat them. I keep the chickens in pens but they are like feathered Houdinis. They have big pens, plenty of toys to keep them stimulated, the maid (me) turns up with food on time, cleans up after them and generally spoils them. I even play them music sometimes, they love Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga! But still the grass is greener.
Not all of them are naughty but nothing stops Kim Kardashian and Joan Crawford for climbing over the fence and helping themselves to whatever takes their fancy. Brad Pitt and George Clooney the cockerels call them back but they just ignore them! Then they help themselves to whatever is in the garden. So I don’t take chances with the Lily of the Valley flowers.
Oli: Is there a reason your chicken is called Kim Kardashian?
Janine: Yes she’s very bossy!
Oli: Nevertheless the custom became common all over France – especially as a romantic gesture. It became a tradition for men to offer a lily of the valley bouquet to loved ones and sweethearts as a token of devotion and love. The flowers were also made into buttonhole sprigs for boys to wear to parties in the olden days called “bals du muguet” where girls dressed in white were allowed to meet potential boyfriends without their parents being present to put a damper on things! At the “bals de muguet” a sweet Moselle wine was served and it was said that to be happy all year one had only to drink the wine known as “May drink” on May 1st.
Janine: Did you know that lily of the valley was one of the main flowers used in the bouquet carried by Kate Middleton for her wedding to Prince William? It also featured in the e bridesmaids hairbands and in the display in Westminster Abbey. So it was at first a romantic custom but in May 1900, fashion designers in Paris gave lily of the valley to all of their female clients and employees and the practice spread. Since then, it has become customary throughout France to give a sprig of lily of the valley on May 1st to those you hold near and dear.
Oli: So, if you are in France on May 1st and someone offers you a sprig of lily of the valley – DON’T EAT IT! Enjoy the beauty and fragrance and know that you are loved and hope that it will bring you some good luck!
Janine: We hope you enjoyed this petite podcast! Tune in next week for a longer podcast as we discover more about the culture, history, gastronomy, cheese and cakes art, famous people, plus destinations, museums, monuments and much, much more.
Oli – Everything you want to know about France and more!
And a big thank you to all for sharing us, we’re very grateful. You’ve been listening to me Olivier Jauffrit and Janine Marsh. You can find me at parischanson.fr where I play classic French sounds.
Janine: And you can find me at www.thegoodlifefrance.com where you can sign up for the podcast to magically hear from us each week, and you can sign up for The Good Life France Magazine which is totally free, find loads of information about France on the website, sign up for the weekly newsletter and find The Good Life France on social media. As Oli said, it really is everything you want to know about France and more!
Meanwhile it’s au revoir from me.
Oli: And goodbye from me.
Janine: Speak to you soon!
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