lily of the valley | Gites in the Loire Valley

Bonjour to all our readers!

Les Muguet, (Lily of the Valley) given as a gift on May Day here in the Loire Valley.

We are fast approaching May day. It’s the Fete du Travail or Fete des Travailleurs (National Labour Day) and a public bank holiday in France, but it’s also the celebration of the start of the Spring season.

A long standing custom here in the Loire Valley is to buy or pick sprigs of Lily of the Valley as a ‘Port-Bonheur’ (lucky charm) for your friends, neighbours and loved ones, and they call it La Fete du Muguet (Lily of the Valley Day).

These beautiful little bunches of fragrant spring flowers are on sale leading up to May Day in shops and supermarkets, either as cut flowers or as plants in little pots. They are indeed a perfect gift for anyone even though they are only last a few days.

We are so lucky to have lots of these delightful perfumed flowers in our garden at Le Clos des Guyons.

Our Muguet patch. With a bit of luck it’ll be flooding the garden with its aroma by Mayday.

They fill the air with their aroma as you walk from the courtyard into the garden and soon and I will be making pretty bunches for our neighbours in rue du Moulin and, of course, our gite guests too!!

Some Asparagus that Brian missed this morning – not to mention the string. Wait ’till I see him!

Another sign of Spring (albiet very late this year), is the masses of Asparagus that are growing at an amazing rate in the hot sunshine. Brian clears the bed in the morning and the next day there is as much again. They’re clearly making up for lost time.

And so in accordance with French customs (of which there are many), here’s wishing you all a Happy May Day!!

‘Bonne Fete du Muguet’

Sheila and Brian

PS. A lovely balmy evening, sitting on “la terrace” heavy with the aromas of our Wisteria and Lilac trees. We have a chilled glass of Franck Bimont’s “Vente du Nord”‘ in hand and listening to a Nightingale singing his head off from the top of a huge Walnut tree! Heaven!

Gites in Loire Valley

A spring tradition

The French tradition of giving Lily-of-the-Valley flowers on May Day was supposedly to have begun on May 1st, 1561, when King Charles IX of France was presented with a bunch of Lily-of-the-Valley flowers as a token of luck and prosperity for the coming year. History does not record who it was that presented the King with this perfumed gift, but he took a shine to this idea and began the custom of presenting Lily-of-the-Valley flowers to the ladies of his court each year on May 1st. There was also an old European tradition of “Bals de Muguet” or Lily-of-the-Valley dances once a year, this was a rare occasion for young singles to meet without having to get parents’ permission. The girls would dress in white and the boys would wear a sprig of “Muguet” as a buttonhole. From around 1900, it became traditional in France for men to present a bouquet of Lily-of-the-Valley flowers to their sweethearts to express their love and affection.

Nowadays, a sprig of “Muguet” is offered to loved ones and friends on the 1st May, and in the week leading up to May Day you can buy bunches of these delicately fragrant spring flowers in florists, supermarkets and street markets, for just a euro or two, either as cut flowers or as plants in pots .

Of course the “Muguet” is closely related to May Day or Féte du Travail (Labour day) and is a public holiday where post offices, banks and most shops are closed. It is a perfect time of the year for demonstrators to campaign for workers rights – always popular over here! Viva le Republique! Truthfully though, the day is generally spent enjoying a day off work, relaxing, perhaps lunching in a restaurant or enjoying a few drinks with friends in a café watching the world go by!

This morning I had a nice suprise when my young neighbour Laurent, knocked on the door. He stood there beaming with un petit bouquet de muguet. It is such a charming custom and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the beginning of Spring! Happily, the weather is improving again too. The blue sky has returned, the sun is shining, the weather is warming up and everywhere is looking colourful particularly with the fields of brilliant yellow oilseed rape adding enjoyment to the countryside.

“Joyeux Fete du Muguet”!

Sheila

01.05.12