bank holidays and "making the bridge"

French bank holidays are usually on the actual date rather than the nearest monday as in the UK. So, today, the 11th November is the French Remembrance Day, and this year it happens to fall on a tuesday. Your average French man or woman doesn't think it is worth going into work just for the monday, so they usually "make the bridge" or faire le pont.

I knew this.

I also assumed that, where I work, to take this bridging day would require one of my slowly accumulating holiday entitlement days - which I am saving up for Christmas/new year, or when someone comes over, or we want to go over to the UK.

What I didn't know, and no-one had bothered to tell me was that at the hospital one is entitled to faire le pont automatically, and get paid for it, and (as far as I have been able to make out) keep hold of ones holiday entitlement!

So I blithely rolled up for work on Monday morning.

I thought it was a little strange that the lady on the gate took a while to raise the barrier and gave me a long look, but thought no more about it. Neither of the patients I had booked in to come first thing to the department arrived - oh well, perhaps they forgot, have another cup of tea and I'll chase them up on Wednesday. I went across to the offices to photocopy some stuff but they were all locked-up and dark. Starting to get suspicious (quick, eh?), I finally ventured out to one of the units, fortunately the one where our local mayor works (she is a nurse there). Her first words to me were 'what are you doing here?' They sat me down over a cup of coffee and explained the situation as outlined above - only a minimum staff of nurses and auxiliaries work bank holidays and bridge days. I realised then that there were no doctors about and very few cars, and it all began to make some sense.

Having got up early and gone in, I decided to finish the morning, but I have been told that I must take a day in lieu, so I will probably take next Monday - not bad eh?