I will be in Paris on May 1 and I was wondering what will be open. It is my understanding that many museums and stores will be closed. I also will be in Paris on May 8, VE Day. I know this is a holiday but do many museums and stores close on VE Day?

1) that is international Labor Day, and yes, most things are closed that involve workers, particularly if not a family business. That would definitely include museums and major stores.

The other two are not as major a holiday in terms of closures. May 1st, Christmas and New Years are the biggest in terms of most things being closed, it seems to me. There are many museums open on VE day, I know that, but don't know about major stores, which I presume is what you mean, not small souvenir shops. YOu can assume shops that cater to tourists mainly will be open on May 8th. They may even be open on May 1st, don't know.

Last year many shops were closed, as were many restaurants and cafes; we had the one poor meal experienced during our trip on May 1 at a cafe that was open, but we were hungry so it wasn't so bad. I recommend getting street food on that day, as they have parades and things with the usual sorts of food merchants.

Check the museums and stores individually (see their web sites) - the churches (except St. Chapelle) are still open.

The biggest problem was public transportation. It was on a holiday schedule with reduced runs on the Metro and some bus routes shut down.

But as people point out, many of the places you might be going are closed!

We have not had trouble finding cafes and restaurants open on holidays, though they seem not to open in the morning. Stuff like toilet paper or bottled water are usually available at tiny independent shops on side streets for a couple of hours in the morning and then again in the afternoon from, say, 4-5. Chain stores like Monoprix will not be open at most (any?) locations.

Thank you for the replies. I was in Europe on May Day many years ago and most everything was closed. The suggestion to visit churches is a good one since I love old churches. I hadn’t thought about the Metro having a holiday schedule but I will keep that in mind when planning.

It's the day of organized unionized labor, the trade unions (syndicats), so transportation and municipalities and such unionized industries are mostly affected, they traditionally close so that the workers can attend rallies and parades etc.

Privately run businesses and art galleries etc. are less likely to close, but of course one never knows, since the non-unionized workers will have trouble getting to work, all bets are off.