Le premier mai is la fête du travail (labor day) and the only day in France when anyone can sell flowers legally – not just florists. You will see tons of people and places (if they’re open…) selling muguets (lily of the valley) because it’s supposed to bring good luck to whomever you give them to.
Because le lundi de Pentecôte has once again become a jour férié, that means many people are taking an extra long weekend this year between Thursday, May 8 (V-E Day, aka End of WWII in Europe Day) and Monday, May 12. Normally, faire le pont refers to taking a long, 4 day weekend. However, people are now saying faire l’aqueduc to refer to the long, 5 day weekend. How witty.
Apparently the French think it’s weird when pharmacies sell over-the-counter medicine on shelves so that customers can choose their own medicine, rather than behind the counter where customers have to ask for it and the pharmacist just gives them whatever s/he wants. TF1 was reporting on some pharmacies in the UK that sell OTC drugs in front of the counter. ::gasp!:: I wonder if they know that’s how it always is in the US – prescription drugs behind the counter and non-prescription drugs in front of the counter. What’s so bad about that? I always thought it made no sense to keep everything behind the counter, which is especially embêtant for foreigners who can’t explain very well what’s wrong or for anyone in general who’s too embarrassed to explain what’s wrong…
I always knew the word ampoule meant light bulb or blister. David told me that cloque can also mean blister, which I thought was strange since I knew the expression en cloque meant knocked up and at first, I didn’t really understand how they could mean the same thing. But it just refers to the shape of either the blister or the pregnant woman’s belly. Strange, and kinda gross, but it does make sense to me now.
