May Day / Labour Day ...

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019 

Today is a “Bank Holiday” in France, almost everything is closed ... with exception of cafés / restaurants in tourist areas. 

We are staying in a tiny village and most definitely everything is closed.

Happy May 1st Day ... here’s my bouquet of lily of valley for all of you! 

 “In France, May 1st is a national holiday – it’s their ‘Labor Day’. One of the ways the French celebrate this holiday is by offering a small bouquet of lily of the valley (“muguet-du-bois”, in French) to loved ones and to friends, to symbolise ‘good luck’ and ‘love’. That is why May 1st, i.e., ‘May Day’ is also known as, “La Fête du Muguet”.

We weren’t too ambitious today and just went for a short drive to Trebes located on the Canal du Midi.

The Quai was busy with families, visitors enjoying the holiday.

We enjoyed our wander and a stop on the waterfront for an apero in the sunshine and some people watching.Trebes is on our list for a repeat visit, we were here many years ago (first time in 2005) and took a boat tour along the Canal thru the locks .

Here’s Monsieur Honey sporting his “Ernest Hemingway” look on our cruise (2005) along the Canal du Midi. 

 

View of the Canal du Midi from the boat ...

The sun was shining brightly and the temperatures warmed up as the day went on ... which provided a perfect excuse for some relaxing on our terrace in the afternoon.

      

I was able to do some catch up on my photo editing and blogging. 

Monsieur was top chef and created a delicious menu with the “Toulouse Sausage” we purchased from the local butcher for our supper ... and bonus it was warm enough to enjoy our dinner al fresco on the terrace. 

Lily of the Valley (Wordless Wednesday)

#1stofMay#Lilyofthevalley#goodluck

                  

"May Day in Gourdon".

The first of May is a national holiday called "Fête du Travail" (Labour Day) or May Day in France, and is the first of numerous holidays during the month of May.

We spent the day in Gourdon, first strolling the Boulevard and checking out the habitants' tables of wares at the annual Vide-grenier.

There was a gorgeous set of French porcelain dishes for a reasonable price but some discussion was held about how to transport these fragile items back to Canada.

The service would be handy when we have a houseful for our family dinners.

Today, I found a tiny silver-plated mustard pot with a cobalt blue glass insert and spoon.

Monsieur Honey was looking for some "Trench Art" from WW1 (1914-1918).
The soldiers would chase, hammer and engrave patterns and pictures into spent brass gun shells and send them home to their families as souvenirs.
This was an activity that the soldiers did in their down time in between battles.

A young entrepreneur with his wagon full of lily of the valley.
French tradition is to give your friends and loved ones a bunch of lily of the valley as a wish for good luck.

Baskets and more baskets.

Need something for your bathroom renovation...what do you think of these, Plumber Mike?

The porcelain dishes.

Some pie irons for the camp fire?

Today's treasure....

We enjoyed a lovely lunch at one of Gourdon's many cafés, Le Pot Occitan.

In addition to the Vide-grenier, there was an antique car and moped rally and display.

A bicycle made for two.... Tandem Moped.

The town streets and cafés were bustling with people enjoying their day off.

Here is a token of good luck to all my family and friends.