After the church's morning blessing ceremony ended, Paris entered a festive mood.
Music thundered everywhere. People wore colorful makeup and all manner of exaggerated, brilliant costumes, crowding around carriages swathed in flowers and ribbons as they danced slowly through the streets.
The spectators lining both sides of the road shouted, "May God bless our King!"
"Long live His Majesty the King!"
"Praise the Suffering Savior!"
France's development over the past few years had been plain for all to see. Although everyone knew that most of the credit belonged to the Crown Prince, their admiration for His Majesty the King had risen along with it.
Of course, another reason was that people had a little extra money in their pockets and were willing to seize the chance to have some fun.
Well, the Labor Protection and Safety Act stipulated that factories throughout the country had to close on the King's birthday.
Great celebratory processions gradually converged on Versailles Palace, where various performances were held every year, including traditional fencing and singing-and-dancing competitions among the nobility. Not only were they highly entertaining, but bets could be placed on every match, making them one of the highlights of the King's birthday celebrations.
Another main attraction was, naturally, the national lottery. The prize money had been raised to 40,000 Franc two years ago. It was said that the middle-aged printing-and-dyeing factory worker who had won later bought the factory where he worked and became its owner.
Naturally, the wide variety of food stalls filling the new district between old Paris and Versailles Palace also held enormous appeal for the crowds. Spiral Potato Towers for 1 Sou a skewer, Beet Apple Juice for 2 Sou a cup, and grilled fish for 2 Sou apiece all left people unable to put them down, eating and spinning