Complementary Days
Five extra days – six in leap years – were national holidays at the end of every year. These were originally known as les sans-culottides (after sans-culottes), but after year III (1795) as les jours complémentaires:
- 1st complementary day: La Fête de la Vertu, "Celebration of Virtue", on 17 or 18 September
- 2nd complementary day: La Fête du Génie, "Celebration of Talent", on 18 or 19 September
- 3rd complementary day: La Fête du Travail, "Celebration of Labour", on 19 or 20 September
- 4th complementary day: La Fête de l'Opinion, "Celebration of Convictions", on 20 or 21 September
- 5th complementary day: La Fête des Récompenses, "Celebration of Honors (Awards)", on 21 or 22 September
- 6th complementary day: La Fête de la Révolution, "Celebration of the Revolution", on 22 or 23 September (on leap years only)
Read more about this topic: French Republican Calendar
Famous quotes containing the word days:
“Water, earth, air, fire, and the other parts of this structure of mine are no more instruments of your life than instruments of your death. Why do you fear your last day? It contributes no more to your death than each of the others. The last step does not cause the fatigue, but reveals it. All days travel toward death, the last one reaches it.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)