Literal translation
to do Saint Michael
Meaning
to move house
Explanation
To move house, literally to make Saint Michael. Saint Michael's feast falls on September 29, once the harvest is in and the fields lie plowed and resting. It traditionally marked the end of sharecropping and tenant farming contracts, and so the moment people changed landlords, employers, and homes. The custom has faded, but the phrase survives, used regardless of the actual date. Tout lou Sant-Michèu, by extension, names a whole jumbled mass of furniture and old belongings.