May Days in Maui and France

May 1st came and went. If I had been in France, I would have organized a Labor Day picnic, just as I do (almost) every year. That’s because if not forced to stop and take the day off, I’d take the “opportunity” to work instead (silly me and my American work ethic).

May 1st in France is Fête du Travail (Labor Day), a national public holiday much like our own (the first Monday of September), and it’s also the perfect day for trade unions to organize demonstrations and marches, especially in Paris and other major cities. The day has roots in the international labor movement of the late 19th-century, advocating for workers’ rights.

It’s customary to give a small bouquet of lily of the valley—called muguet—as a token of good luck. The tradition dates back to 1561, when King Charles IX offered sprigs of the flower as a charm. Today, you’ll see street vendors on nearly every corner selling little bunches of the pretty white flowers. Uniquely, and against all the strict rules, anyone is allowed to sell muguet on the street that day without a permit. It’s simple, sweet, and very French.

For me, a picnic is the perfect answer to such a day. In Paris, my favorite spot is Place des Vosges. In Nice, the Promenade du Paillon works extremely well. Regardless of where you are in France, such a simple, sweet, very French way of celebrating is easy, peasy.

May in France is what I often call “the month of holidays”—if you’ve ever tried to get anything done administratively during this time, you’ll understand why. It’s a beautiful paradox: the weather is glorious, life spills outdoors…and the country seems to take a collective pause.

There are four holidays in the month of May to celebrate:

• May 1 – Fête du Travail (Labor Day)
• May 8 – Victoire 1945 (VE Day)
• L’Ascension (Ascension Day, always on Thursday and 40 days after Easter)
• La Pentecôte (Pentecost)

Note: This is when the famous French concept of faire le pont comes into play. If the holiday falls on Thursday, many people take Friday off and claim a 4-day weekend. Pentecost falls on a Sunday and Monday, so this is yet another excuse to faire le pont. You can count on the cities emptying out while everyone heads to the countryside or coast. Get your train tickets early!

You can expect business closures, heavy travel, cafés and terraces filled to the brim and the beginnings of a leisurely summer. May in France is less a month and more a state of mind. Between Labor Day, Victory Day, Ascension, and Pentecost, the calendar is dotted with reasons not to work—the French take full advantage. Add in the irresistible temptation of spring sunshine, and you begin to understand: in France, life isn’t organized around work…work is organized around life.

While France is packed with public holidays in May, the United States only really shares one comparable holiday—even that feels quite different: Memorial Day, comparable to Victory in Europe Day. Both honor those who died in war and both involve ceremonies and remembrance, but the feel is very different. In France it’s more formal, ceremonial, and a true national reflection while in the U.S., it’s also a remembrance, but widely seen as the start of summer (barbecues, travel, long weekend). The religious holidays are not aligned though they exist in the U.S., but are not public holidays. There are no closures and no long weekends.

Americans and the French both honor their history, but only the French manage to turn the entire month of May into a series of long weekends. While Memorial Day in the U.S. marks the beginning of summer, May in France feels like a gentle rebellion against work itself—punctuated by holidays, ponts, and the irresistible pull of spring.

Maui weather is like having a spring season every single day. I’ve been here in the fall, winter and now the spring, and it’s barely any different. There’s the dry season (April-October) and the wet season (November-March), but the key to all of it are the island’s microclimates: every area of the island has a different climate all its own.

I find myself changing clothing all day long, not that much different from dressing for Paris weather, which changes all day long, too. In Paris, one can never leave home without an umbrella, sunglasses, and an extra sweater or jacket…even in the height of summer. I’ve seen it rain when the sun was shining and a hail storm in the middle of summer. Go figure.

One thing I’ve noticed here in Maui is that every single waitperson seems to have an enormous smile on their face…all the time. It’s like the smile is plastered on. If that person were to walk the streets of Paris like that, the French would a) immediately know they were American and b) assume they were a simpleton! My daughter claims it’s because everyone is so happy living in Paradise. I joked that they just seem euphoric and maybe even high (from smoking all that Maui Wowie). The Niçois are a happy bunch, but not with such ear-to-ear grins as these. It’s over the top.

My daughter’s friends can gather for an outing at the drop of a hat and it’s their favorite thing to do. Wednesday their plans to go boating together were dampened by high winds, so instead they trekked up to PoliPoli for a picnic to watch the sunset. It didn’t matter that it was totally fogged in, as they were confident the fog would lift…and it did…then it came back…then lifted…then it came back, until the sun actually set.

PoliPoli is a State Recreation Area and is one of Maui’s best-kept secrets. Perched on the slopes of the Haleakalā volcano above Upcountry near Kula, Polipoli sits at about 6,000–6,500 feet elevation. The temperatures are often cool (50s–60s°F), there are frequent mist and clouds (no joke) and one finds a dense forest of pine, eucalyptus, even redwoods. It can feel more like Northern California…or even parts of Europe than tropical Hawaii.

Yes, it was beautiful and a lovely place to picnic, in spite of the mist and cool temps, but as I was lounging there on the blanket, I was wishing there was more to stimulate me than the stretch of thick green grass, the sun behind the mist and the sound of nothing. I remembered why we left East Tennessee for Los Angeles in 1987—to have the kind of life we couldn’t have living in the woods.

Shopping for groceries is always a shock to the pocketbook. We left the Mana Foods market in Paia with a small box of essentials costing at least double, if not three times, what it would have cost in Paris. I love going into Mana, not a health food store, but famous for its variety of natural, local, and organic products, all of which are sold (they claim) “at the best prices that Maui has to offer.” Ha! That might be true, but you still need a barrel of cash to shop there (or anywhere on the island for that matter).

Mostly, I love going there for the people-watching. The shoppers are somehow emblematic of the island’s long-time residents. I offer you a photo taken a few visits back in Mana, of three white guys with dreadlocks, one child shoeless, a parrot and a department of natural grains sold by the ounce. It says it all.

And I can assure you, not one iota of it resembles the Franprix supermarket on my corner in Paris! Three bananas cost more than $3 at Mana. At Franprix, those same three bananas would have cost about €1. The CocoJune brand non-diary yogurt at Mana is $3.50 to $5.00 per single serving (about 4–5 oz/120–140g), while in France, it’s €1.50 to €2.50 per unit, roughly 1.5x to 2x more expensive
(and sometimes more, depending on the store).

C’est la vie en Maui!

The packing up is what this trip is all about, although my role is more about keeping Little Leeds occupied while my daughter does the packing. Those of you making the move to France know all about this—the sorting of things that stay, those that get given away or sold, others sent in the shipment by boat or air, the things that can be sent using a service such as SendMyBag and that which comes with us to Paris on the planes. It “ain’t” easy, that’s for sure.

Fortunately for my daughter, a friend will be taking over her rental house with all of the furniture in it and there are lots of new parents willing to take the baby equipment. Replaceable toys will get replaced in Paris. Favorite books will get packed and the rest given away. It’s a big job to move one’s life from one side of the planet to the other, especially when dealing with an infant and all of the accouterments that go along with him. I know just what our clients go through and how they feel.

Emotionally, it’s even tougher to leave one’s home and friends to take on a new environment and adventure. Erica grew up in Paris, so adapting won’t be as difficult as someone who is adapting to French culture as a newbie, but it’s still a big change in her life, her son’s life, and mine, too. We’ve been apart 24 years —her life in the U.S. and mine in France—so we’ve lived very independent lives. Coming back together is just as big an adventure for me as it is for the two of them. I promised her at least one night a week of babysitting duty (when I’m in Paris) and I asked her to reserve Sunday afternoons for family outings. Fair enough, don’t you think?

She is working with interior designer Martine di Mattéo on the renovation and decoration of her new Paris apartment, located in our immediate neighborhood, to be completed by the end of August. This will be home for…possibly forever. Martine has Erica’s creative juices flowing and the two of them are coming up with beautiful decor ideas—rendering me quite jealous! She and Little Leeds will have their dream abode in the world’s most beautiful city, Paris. What could be so bad?!

Later this week, we (Erica, Little Leeds and I) are flying to New Orleans for a family reunion and for everyone to meet Little Leeds. It’s a half-way stopping point before landing in Paris the following week. We have a weekend of non-stop family, pigging out on Louisiana seafood and typical New Orleans cuisine (the best in the world!) and a real sendoff for our return to France.

Stay tuned for that adventure!

A la prochaine…