In France, May 1st is a national holiday called La Fête du Travail (National Labor Day) as well as La Fête du Muguet (Lily of the Valley Day).
I was lucky to be in Paris on May Day one year and I loved seeing Parisians of all ages hustling through the city with bouquets of lily of the valley. It was quite funny to see how each of them managed with an extra item to juggle. Some businessmen tucked them horizontally in the same hand that was holding their briefcase. Young girls held them out in front of them as if they were walking down the aisle. And every so often, I'd see a young woman looking at the bouquet a little too often, as if she couldn't believe that someone gave them to her. Love is grand. Each individual made me question, Who is the bouquet for? Did they just receive it as a gift themselves?
This morning I was in a garden center here in America admiring all of the new plants for sale when I heard a Frenchwoman asking for lily of the valley. It was early in the morning and I hadn't realized that it was May 1st yet.
When I came back home to my computer the May Day proclamations were all over Facebook. So that's why she wanted Lily of the Valley today of all days! I so regret not realizing what she was doing. She was getting a lot of far flung information from the clerk about shipments and the planting season and what she really needed (in addition to some flowers to give) was someone to say Happy May Day to her!
