Today is May Day and there were numerous demonstrations so we stayed pretty much in our corner of Paris. In Bordeaux, according to notices we saw there, all public transport was closed and, we inferred, that most of the shops would be closed as well. In Montmartre businesses were closed, with the exception of food shops. We went down to get a few items and found that it was quite busy.
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| Shopping in our neighbourhood |
On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer this flower each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on May 1. The government permits individuals and workers' organisations to sell them tax-free. Nowadays, people may present loved ones either with bunches of lily of the valley or dog rose flowers. In fact there are so many individuals selling the flowers it is like running the gauntlet. Knowing that at the weekend these will be available in large quantities at a much lower price we decided to forego the purchase now.
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| A Seller of Muguet |
At noon we watched our local boulanger doing the mid-day baking and we picked up our baguette for lunch. The bread was too hot to handle, but we managed to juggle our baguette home and when it had cooled down a bit we made lunch.
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| Le Boulanger scoring the baguettes |
The rest of the day was taken up with the usual chores one is faced with on returning from a trip.
How is the gentleman who dines alone..? Sue x
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