faire le pont - taking a French holiday at Pumpjack Piddlewick

Well what a lovely long weekend surprise. I keep forgetting that the 1st of November is a national French holiday here. And in France they love their ‘bridge days’. They say ‘faire le pont’ (to make the bridge). A bridge day is a day taken as holiday after a holiday. Or before.

Unlike in say the US or UK where most official holiday days fall on a Monday, in France they fall on, well, whenever. Thursday is common, sometimes Wednesdays, occasionally a Monday. If the official holiday is on a, shall we say, Tuesday, like this week, generally ‘everyone’ (if they can) takes the Monday off as well. That’s a bridge day. It bridges the break from/to the weekend. Get it?

More often than not (except in the service industry) a company will give it as an additional holiday. It took me awhile today to realise why the village was so quiet. It felt like a Sunday. And then I realised it was because the various businesses in the village were closed.

Sadly, working for yourself (that’s us) doesn’t garner these same privileges. But also, I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (what a weird saying – anyone know where it comes from?) and took my own French holiday bridge day to get a variety of those odds and ends, that seem to pile up, done.

PS

Would you like to learn a little more on the curious and fun findings of France?

Join in an Apero

The Weather in France

What is Pollarding?

Fun with French Ceramics

Are the French Friendly?

French Stereotypes and Misconceptions

A Peek Behind French Shutters

Baguettes Croissants and Breakfast in France

Driving in France

Learning French using Cognates

Have you tried Horse Milk?

French Markets

Only in France

And a further taste of France from Our Shop of quirky or particularly ‘it’s very French’ items:

(Simply click on an image to see more.)

2022-10-31

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