We'll be in Paris May 16-19 (too short, I know!) and one of these days we're planning to do a day trip (either Versailles or Monet Garden). Where is the best place to spend May 17, Ascension Day as I am aware that most places, restaurants, etc. will be closed that day at least in Paris? Since we'll be in Paris for a short period of time, we wanted to optimize our days. How major a holiday is May 17, Ascension Day, in Paris? Thanks for any info.

Banks, schools and post offices will be closed. Most other things are open, including most stores.

Hardly a blip i believe in Paris or place like Giverny. Since May 17th's a Thursday this makes a 4-day holiday weekend where Parisians will be flocking out of town - trains at certain periods could be crowded, but otherwise i think the impact on Paris tourism is relatively little.
May be like August, a great time to be in Paris because the normal obnoxious traffic and smog are greatly reduced, making the city more pleasurable to stroll around.
I would think that all museums and sights would be on Sunday hours but not closed.
Maybe something nice in churches like Notre Dame in terms of special services.

I've never heard of May 17 being a holiday...in Paris or anywhere else...

May 17 is the variable day of Ascension Day, which is a holiday in most Catholic countries...and even in this, perhaps the most un-Catholic of countries.

PalenQ, and Spain in which category qualifies ? Because here it's not a holiday...it's a normal day.

Ascension Day is a holiday in 2007 in:

Sweden
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Switzerland

this according to current issue of Thomas Cook European RailTimetable, who notes holidays because some trains may run only or not on holidays

in my experience with Cooks the list may not be perfect. I think in Germany for instance Ascension may be a holiday in Catholic parts like Bavaria but not in others (not sure about this)

But as kenderina says Spain, a Catholic a country as any European country i'd think, does not make it one. Nor does Italy. And other non-Catholic countries honor it, like Scandinavia, so i retract the Catholic comment though it is of course a Catholic religious holiday or based on one.

So, May 17 in Paris will then be like a Sunday and not a major holiday like Labor Day?

Of course it is a religious holiday , there's and old spanish religious saying about that.."there are three thursdays in the year that shine more than the sun, Good Thursday, Corpus Christi and Ascension day" (sorry for the translation, it has a rhyme in Spanish , hahaha). But it is not an "official" one I've learned also that it is in France and Scandinavia, great investigation PalenQ

The only holidays in France where you will find few things open (excluding tourist attractions) are: January 1st, May 1st, July 14th, December 25th.

The other holidays are pretty close to "business as usual".

PalenQ: In Germany, Ascension Day (Himmelfahrt) is a public holiday in the whole country, celebrated both by Catholics and Protestants.
In fact, it's very popular among the male part of the population, because it's also "Vatertag" and they all go on trips and drink a lot.

Quokka, like Father's day ? This is a public holiday in most places of Spain also..but it's March 19 (St Joseph's day)

Yes, Fathers' Day, although this isn't really official. Since Mothers' Day is on the second Sunday in May, the fathers wanted their own holiday, and so it became Himmelfahrt because everyone has a day off and the weather is better in May.

Typical fathers' day activities involve a group of males, no matter if they are really fathers or not, meeting up without their wives/partners, a hike in the countryside, a lot of drinking and eating, preferably outdoors, and coming home veeeery late and veeeery drunk with a bunch of flowers to pacify the angry lady of the house.

Sorry Cheryl, this has become slightly off-topic.

Was there for Ascension Day in 2005. We tried to go to Musee Carnavalet, but it was closed for the holiday. We thought the stores would be too, but we ended up shopping all along Rue du Rivoli and into BHV (although they onlly had one door open which was weird).

No problem with any restaurants though. I would just advise checking ahead if you have plans to visit any museums.

We were in Paris two years ago on Ascension Thursday. Decided on Vaux-le-Vicomte for the day. We loved it! I had checked on-line and knew it would be open.

In Switzerland, it is a major holiday and all the stores are closed and we all go to the south of France to kick off our summer holidays!

years ago, Ascension Day was a problem for me (as was Pentecost!) because the banks were (to me) unexpectedly closed and i was short of cash. With ATMs being used, it must be much less of a problem now.