May 1st on Saturday in France
 

I've been in France on May Day when it was on a weekday. I know what to expect with that.

This year it's on a Saturday. Do people have off the Friday before to give everyone a three day weekend?

Hi Indy

We shall be in Paris on May 1, 2004.

What was it like on a weekday? What open, What closed?

Thanks.

I cannot swear to this, but if no French resident replies, I have read that French law does not move that holiday to other days for observance. It is fixed on the date it falls. I believe this was an issue as it gives them one less (sort of) holiday this year, and they are going to take away another holiday for budgetary reasons (Pentecost Monday). So folks are not happy.

I'm not sure that would affect tourists a lot either way, as workers in tourist attractions or stores open everyday but Sunday would be the ones most likely to be working on Sat. and so will now get it off when it's on Saturday (eg, museums).

However, tourist attractions on Friday should not be as crowded as you'd guess if everyone were off work that day, I suppose.

I can tell you in Switzerland, that holiday is not moved to Friday.

Since Christmas and New Years also fall on weekends, we get 5 fewer work holidays than in 2003.

I think the same is true in France.

Hi Ira,

Are you going to get clipped by May 8th too? I am. It's the following Saturday. The worst I had was (I think 2001) when Ascension Day was on May 9th.

I arrived in Paris on May 1st. I came into Gare de L'Est. The trains were running a reduced holiday schedule. There was a parade going on around noon so the taxi driver had to route me around that to get to my hotel on the other side of the parade. He took me on the roads under Les Halles, the first time I'd done this.

I the metro to a Paris Walks tour of Père LaChaise cemetery. At the time the tours went rain or shine and holidays. I'm not much of a tour person but I really liked this. I knew the cemetery was big enough that I'd wander around a bit, see almost nothing famous, get frustrated and leave. This way I was able to have quite a few famous graves pointed out to me.

From there I walked back to my hotel in the 1st. I ended up being near the Square du Temple before heading south. I watched the people along the way and stopped at a café or two. Some cafes and shops were open, some weren't. I didn't starve or thirst for a glass of wine.

The weather was a bit rainy so I didn't get to watch people in the parks like I had hoped.

The French have an interesting custom around holidays; it's called "making a bridge." That means that an extra day, sometimes two, is tacked on to a holiday so that when it's, say, a Friday, the preceding Thursday also becomes a holiday. Fridays are added to Saturdays, Mondays to Sundays...you just never know. May is notorious for these bridges, as there are so many holidays.

However, most restaurants will be open.

What Queenie said about holidays in Switzerland holds true for France too. So not nearly as many public hols this year as last (due to the leap year). Not that it makes much difference to me, as I'm self employed so I can take any days off I like :D

As for the "bridge" thing ("faire le pont"), it means if a public holiday falls on Thursday or a Tuesday, for example, then you take the Friday or Monday off to "bridge" the gap to the weekend. It doesn't refer to people just taking random long weekends or anything. Some companies give their employees these extra days off, others don't. You wouldn't usually call it a "pont" if the holiday was on Friday and you took the Thursday off too, though.

Thanks Indy,

I'll just plan on two Sundays in a row.

No. we will not be there for Ascension.

Hi Ira,

I want to make sure I wasn't confusing the issue. When I read back through my post I realized I didn't mention May 8th is Victory 1945 day in France.

In France

May 1 is Labor Day
May 8 is Victory 1945 Day
May 20 (2004) is Ascension Day

Ascension day "floats" like Easter each year.

Technically Easter on the Christian calendar is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. (Greek Orthodox Easter can be different. This year it happens to be the same.)

You can then count days to stuff like Whit Monday, Pentecost Sunday, Ascension Day, etc.

Hi Indy,

I will be missing Victory Day as well.