Holidays

May is the month of public holidays in France. The first is Fête du Travail or Labour Day. In my French class I was the only one who came from a country that did not celebrate Labour Day or May Day on the first of May. The other students from Germany, Sweden, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil were amazed that Canada (and the United States) celebrate Labour Day on the first Monday in September.

Next week there are two public holidays. Wednesday, May 8 is Victory in Europe Day which obviously marks the end of the Second World War. Then Thursday, May 9 is Ascension Day which is a Christian holiday. Ascension Day is not the same every year, it comes 39 days after Easter and it's unusual that it's so early this year. The final holiday falls on May 20 and it's Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday. It's a Christian holiday that's dependent on when Easter is as well.

Most people use the large number of public holidays to their advantage and plan their vacation around them so they don't have to use as many annual days. Most of Lori's co-workers will be gone for the next two weeks and things slow down in most businesses. As for us, I think we'll be spending our day off walking the streets of Paris. Everything is in full bloom here and it's beautiful. The difference between Paris in winter and Paris in Spring is like night and day.

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