May Day

Friday, May 1st, was May Day, or as they call it here, "fete du travail." I've always known it as socialist labor day, but unlike labor day in the U.S., they take it seriously here. There are no sales, in fact, all the stores are closed. All of them, except florists, because exchanging lilies of the valley is a tradition here, a holdover from the pagan origins of the spring holiday, I assume. Only recently bakeries are also allowed to be open, because bread is national fetish. Bars are also open because everyone is off work and needs something to do. Workers are supposed to be paid double on the day. 

So Friday morning was eerily quiet when we woke up. There were no delivery trucks or trash trucks rumbling down the streets, there was virtually zero vehicular traffic and very few pedestrians either since no one was going to work. It was more quiet than Christmas. We had made certain to get all the shopping we'd need done on the day before. Bailey and I went on our usual morning walk but we had the streets and the park mostly to ourselves. 

In the afternoon we walked to Wazemmes (a nearby suburb) because the public transport system wasn't running, for the "fete de la soupe." It's an annual street festival where various civic groups sell homemade soup and promote themselves. The groups had a very definite left wing slant, which was very nice to see. There was not a MAGA Republican anywhere in sight, and that was very nice. There was a good crowd because there was not much else going on in town. We didn't get any soup but did have a couple of beers and walked back home. 

The Rotary Club was there too. I have no idea what they do in France, or elsewhere for that matter.

There were several antifascist groups present, all with soup.

And "woke" is not a dirty word here.

A group that supports gay kids rejected by their families.

The golden ladle awards and jars of soup for the judging in the background.

The following pictures are from a long bike ride I took down the canal path the other day. I stopped to take a few pictures, mostly of swans and flowers.

Swans look funny when they are feeding off the bottom.

A black swan

Wild poppies are coming into bloom.

Bailey looking out the window.

Flowers and frolic

I'm not sure when I've enjoyed spring as much as I am this year. At this time last year I was recovering from the surgery to repair my rotator cuff and we were in the midst of downsizing, which meant going through everything and deciding to keep, trash, sell, or donate. (The smallest category by far was "keep.")

It's been two years since spring has meant gardening, which I very much enjoyed, but even then the enjoyment was mixed with keeping up with the growing grass and other chores. This is really my first spring in retirement and in a downsized, relocated life where my "to do" list is really quite small. Eventually I may need more, but right now our daily walks in beautiful weather (I'm averaging 12-14 km/day), along with shopping and cooking, keep me pretty well occupied. 

It's already been air-conditioning weather back in Virginia. That's an option that we don't have here but also haven't needed. An open window lets in a nice cool breeze and that's been all we need to stay comfortable so far, although we did purchase a set of light blocking curtains for the west-facing windows that we close on sunny afternoons. 

I do miss planting my container garden but my house plants are doing well and I'm really enjoying all the spring flowers we see on walks. 

This wild iris is coming into bloom along the inner canals inside the Citadel. 

Pretty in pink. 

Coots and offspring

Bailey at play

Apple trees in bloom

Grass cutters with their guardian.

A crow friend

This is one of the community gardens in the park at the Citadel.

It's divided into small plots.

Water collection system at the gardens and compost.

Bailey with another playmate.

I saw this bleeding heart peeking out from under another plant this morning.

The plant looks like a snapdragon, but the flowers are a bit different so I'm not sure.

One of the flower beds at the entrance of the park.

March of the Teckels

Since I spend several hours a day walking Bailey, we see a lot of different dogs. I've seen some breeds that I don't recognize but most I do. I've been surprised by the number of hunting dogs I see, lots of pointers. There are probably more pure breds than mixes. When I talk to someone with a mixed breed they always say that they got it from a shelter. Most the male pure breds seem to be unneutered, I can't tell by looking if the females are unspayed but I suspect they are. And yet, pet overpopulation does not seem to be a problem on the same scale as it exists in the U.S. 

One of the breeds that I see very often around here are miniature dachshunds, or "teckels" as they are called here. I don't think I've ever seen the number or variety of them that I've seen here. They come in a variety of colors and coats – smooth, long-haired, and wire-haired. I'm quite taken by the breed, especially the wire-haired little guys, they are just as cute as they can be. 

On Sunday there was a "sausage walk" in Lille. It was a gathering of teckel owners at a public square followed by a walk through the city to the Citadel. Originally the plan included a walk around the Citadel as well, but I suspect that was shortened when enough people thought it was too far for the little dogs. Clay and I went to the gathering place where the walk started but we didn't follow them on the route through the city. I didn't get very good pictures but there were hundreds of very cute dogs. I thought that they should have had all the owners lift their dogs up over their heads for a group photo op. Being so low to the ground the group pictures just looked like a gathering of people with a few dogs on the edges. 

Someday, when I'm an old man and can't do all the walking I'm doing now, there may be a teckel in my future. For now, I need Bailey's longer legs and energy to keep me moving as much as possible.