Lost in Vacation

The French have so many vacations that it's easy for foreigners to get lost in the complexities of what they are and when. Let's take a look.

Time Off!

April in Paris may have a reputation for romance but in May the weather gets warmer, the sun comes out, birds chirp and cheep, the days are longer. Parisians are in a rare good mood as they contemplate the prospect of several long weekends to come.

Out of the 11 public holidays in France, four are in the month of May. They are

- Labor Day (Fête du Travail) May 1

- Victory in Europe Day (Fête de la Victoire 1945) May 8

- Ascension Day (Jour de l’Ascension) May 15

- Whit Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte) May 25

This year that makes three three-day week-ends and one four-day one (including a “pont”, a bridge between the public holiday and the week-end).

The only mandatory public holiday is May 1 when, it seems, the whole country shuts down. Everyone is off except healthcare and public transport workers. Boulangers and fleuristes can open their shops – as long as no employees are present. If not, they face stiff penalties (one bakery owner was fined 5000 euros for employing seven persons). In that particular case, the government revised the punishment to a simple warning mainly because a new bill proposing changes in the law is in the works. Others business owners have not been so lucky.

Talk about confusing. But things do get very confusing in a country where even bakers and flower shop owners are regulated by strict, and sometimes ambiguous, rules from on high.

I started writing this post on May 8, the day when Europe celebrates Victory in Europe 1945 so I decided to take a little spin around my neighborhood justement to see what was open and what was closed.

As I walked down the street that leads to the Père Lachaise cemetery, I heard beautiful singing and saw a group of people gathered in front of the cemetery gates as well as the inevitable police cars that are there for such events. I couldn’t understand the words on the banner or the words to their songs. Logical: it was a group of Russians.

Russians observing Victory in Europe Day in front of the Père Lachaise – Author photo

I stayed a while, then continued on my way to – you guessed it – one of my favorite cafés for morning coffee. What was I writing? This column!

With my precious yellow legal pad at a favorite café.

Work-Life Balance, A French Specialty

Foreign visitors of every epoch are fascinated by the prevalence and value of leisure in France. In 1767, Benjamin Franklin wrote that “The French are a pleasant, polite people, but they have too much leisure, and too little industry.”

Visitors always remark upon and marvel at all those Frenchies lolling around in cafés – at times when most should normally be in offices. “When do they work?” they ask.

I myself have always been fascinated, in particular, by how many school vacations there are during the year. How about this: six weeks of classes followed by a two-week break all year long! French parents begin planning those vacations as soon as the dates are out, and it’s no small task. If parents aren’t going on vacations themselves, they have to enlist helpers or sign the kids up for camps. My husband used to get frustrated when trying to organize a business meeting. Everyone in his team got busy consulting dates. They weren’t necessarily on vacation - but the kids were. Can you imagine a U.S. business meeting like this?

So…how do they hang out without feeling guilty.

Answer: It’s philosophical, my friends. The French work to live, Americans live to work.

But it’s more than philosophical. It’s because they can.

There are three main reasons for that:

1) The French have a generous “social model” that removes many of the worries that plague people in other parts of the world, notably the U.S. For starters, their national health care system ensures them that if they lose their jobs, they won’t lose their health care.

2) A college education in France, while certainly not free, costs “peanuts” compared to a college education in the States. Recent figures (2024) showed that yearly tuition fees at the prestigiousEcole des Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po) for students with a French or EU tax residence, amounted to 5740 euros at undergrad level and 7275 euros at grad school level. Compare that with yearly tuition fees at Harvard ….

3) Last but not least, retirement and pensions are paid by those working and are not linked to the stock market.

Yes, the French work. Some work 35 hours a week, which is the law. However, that law does not affect business owners, white collar executives or farmers working the land to mention a few.

For low salaries and low risk, but high social charges and lots of laws about what can and cannot be done, France is the place. For finding fortune, head elsewhere!

Strike!

When the French are unhappy about work conditions, they take to the streets! The strikes are…very French with marching and music and great crowds. That’s the fun part. Less fun is when pilots or air controllers strike exactly and on purpose at holiday time, depriving their compatriots of their vacations. The non-striking French fume and fulminate but never say anything too derogatory. The standard reaction is “we’re ticked because we may not get to our destination but they have the right to strike”.

So much more to say on this subject. You’ll find it all in the chapter Hanging Out Without Feeling Guilty inmy third book, Joie de Vivre. All my books are available at

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Harriet-Welty-Rochefort/author/B001IR3CPE?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

And now, speaking of holidays and vacations…everyone’s got their list of their favorite Paris museums starting with the Louvre. But there are plenty of lesser-known ones. I had heard of a Chocolate Museum but had no idea there is a Museum of Medical Waxworks, and a Museum of the National Gendarmerie. Art exhibitions are often held in delightful, slightly out of sight spaces, such as the two in the photos below. Stay tuned for my next column in which I’ll write more specifically about them and share some of my other finds. Clearly, there are many exciting experiences ahead for you and for me! Stay tuned!

A bientôt!

Afternoon dance performance at Bastille Design Center – Author Photo

Espace Monte Carlo at the Villa Datris – “When God Is A Woman” Beya Gille Gacha - Author photo