Vivent les vacances!

 

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Three words much awaited for by many kids! " Long live the holidays!" By the way, three controversial words. Should it be Vive les vacances! or Vivent les vacances!  There are two theories and  sides who agree to disagree. I believe (that's my theory) that originally vive or vivent are used when making a wish therefor sing the subjunctive mood.
For example, Vive la France! (which means Long lives France!) is actually short for Que vive la France! (I wish that France lives long!). Consequently, when using a plural subject, the verb should be conjugated accordingly in the "they" form . Example: Vivent les Bleus! (the French footballl team) should be the correct spelling. But you will never see this on a flag or Tshirt. Probably too grammatical correct!
So, eventually Vive has lost its value as a verb, become invariable and almost an equivalent to Bravo: Vive les mariés!
To come back to Vivent les vacances! (I am starting a new trend and have decided to use the subjunctive!), it is worth reminding that vacances is a plural noun; it will always be "les/des/mes/nos vacances".
Now these grarmmatical points are out of the way, let us get to the fun part of "les vacances"!
Summer holidays are much longer in France and have started 3 weeks ago! That is why they are often called "les grandes vacances"...
No French person will read "Vivent les vacances! without feeling the compulsion to hum a very old tune sung on the last day of school by many generations:

"Vivent les vacances!
Plus de pénitence!
Les cahiers au feu
Et la maîtresse au milieu!"

Obviously it is not available on Youtube (I could not fing it) , as the lyrics suggest to burn exercise books and the teacher too! Things have changed!
To finish and put us in a holiday mood, here is a blast from the past Vive les vacances! ,a video clip by Dorothée, a children singer/TV presenter from the 80's. It illustrates how the French associate holidays with being stuck in huge traffic jams...but thats' another story. Watch this space soon.
Bonnes vacances!