The month and day names were created by poet
Fabre D' Eglantine. Each season had the same suffix : -aire for
fall, -ose for the
winter, -al for
spring and -or for
summer (because of the gold color of the sun ?). Month prefix reflected the climatic / agricultural spirit of the month, probably to exhalt the agricultural identity of France.
Vendémiaire (from vendanges -
vintage)
Brumaire (from Brume -
fog)
Frimaire
Nivôse (from the latin for
snow)
Pluviôse (from pluvieux - rainy)
Ventôse (from venteux - windy)
Germinal (from
germination)
Floréal (from
flowers)
Prairial (from
prairie)
Messidor (from moisson -
harvest)
Thermidor (for thermos -heat)
Fructidor (from
fruits)
The saints of every day (like St-Glinglin, St-Jean etc) were also replaced by farm things, like carrot, straw etc.
The officials
shot in their own feet from the beginning, allowing their administration employees to take off every sunday, only a few years after introduction.