The muguet is a sweet-scented wild Lily of the valley. These are sold in tiny bouquets on the streets of France on May 1 every year, to be offered to loved ones, as a gesture of friendship and as a celebration of spring. It’s a bank holiday, but the Fête du Muguet is a more than that. It’s one of France’s more charming traditions, a day when families get together and the queues outside boulangeries are long, as everyone buys cakes. The 1st of May is also a day of "solidarité" for the union movement and the unionists spend their day showing their solidarity with the population by attacking policemen, smashing shop windows and complaining when the authorities exhibit their solidarity with tear gas and water cannon.
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