Avoiding French Holidays In May
 

We hope to rent an apartment in Paris for a week during May,2006. We are trying to avoid being there during the holiday closures in May. I have learned that May 1(Labour Day), May 8 (Victory Day) and May 25(Ascension Day) are holidays. Are there any other holidays and closures that I should be aware of in Paris as I choose our dates? Thank you for your help.

So, by avoiding these dates are you assuming that everything will be closed or that so many locals will be off that everything will be crowded?

You can find the dates of French holidays at the Paris U. S. Embassy web site. Very useful, as May is always awash with them.

I think it is about it in May.(+28/5 Mother's day but it is on a Sunday)have a look here : http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/DF_holidays.shtml

welcome to France :-)

Pentecost and the day after are holidays in France. I think Pentecost is 7 weeks after Easter, so that might make it in June next year. The day after is becoming less and less of a holiday; most stores were open this past year. May is a hard month for avoiding holidays!

We have traveled in Paris and in small towns in France during the May holidays. Even though it was quite a while ago, maybe things have not changed.

It didn't seem to make much of a difference if I remember correctly. The metro was empty of school kids and people going to work, which is a blessing.

In the small towns most most of the locals disappear from the streets and we encountered a few tourists and some local 'foreigners', men mostly, apparently without families. This has happened to us also in Frankfurt, Germany.

These days give the town, large or small, a different feeling, more peaceful and relaxed. We have always been able to find food etc.. We've actually enjoyed these days, as we had time to relax and unwind.

There are various activities on May 1.

Of course if you are only there for a week or so, it is a bummer to have museums and stores closed for two days during your stay - three days if you count Sunday when some restaurants and stores are always closed.

Since you are going to be there for one week, choose something between May 9 and May 24.

IMO the main thing to watch out for on a holiday, is the SNCF holiday train schedule.

Enjoy your stay,

Nina

Thank you all for the very helpful advice. I hadn't even thought about train schedules being affected,so that reminder was important.As you surmised, I want to avoid museum and shop closures, plus I didn't want to deal with increased crowds at day-tour sites outside of Paris.