French holidays (jour feries) can catch you unaware and ruin a perfectly good day.
In order to avoid the disaster of waking up to cafe au lait sans lait, be prepared.
In Auvers, as well as every other village around here, all the shops are closed on Sunday and Monday (except the bakery, which is closed on Tuesday). The Butcher and grocery store are open on Sunday mornings, but close after 1.
The other national holidays are:
1 January New Year’s Day (Jour de l’an)
1 May Labor Day (Fête du premier mai)
8 May WWII Victory Day (Fête de la Victoire 1945; Fête du huitième mai)
14 July Bastille Day (Fête nationale)
15 August Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assomption)
1 November All Saints Day (La Toussaint)
11 November Armistice Day (Jour d’armistice)
25 December Christmas Day (Noël)
26 December 2nd Day of Christmas (in Alsace and Lorraine only)
There are also the “moveable feast” holidays, which are Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Ascension (l’Ascencion), Pentecost (la Pentecote) and Whit Monday. In 2010, the dates for those holidays will be April 2, April 4, April 5 May 13, May 23 and May 24 in 2010.
To read up on French holidays, including regional ones, events and fetes, here’s a good link.
Have a happy holiday!
[...] french holidays [...]
Yes, we went to Calais on holiday, and on Assumption day and it was totally empty. Weirdest thing ever! Good thing we were only passing through on our way to Lille so we could catch the high speed train.
Emily
Here in Brittany we have had four holiday days in May, two of them were Saturdays which make for a long weekend without shops and supermarkets. Be prepared and check out when the days are where you intend to travel !
Thanks, Chris! Where in Brittany are you?