We’ll be arriving at Orly on May 8, which is a holiday (Victory 1945). We usually stop on our way west from Orly at Dreux, Nonancourt, or Verneuil sur Avre at an E Leclerc or Super U to pick up a few things for supper. Will the chain supermarkets be open on May 8? All day or half day? Are small-town boulangeries likely to close that day even if it’s usually an open day for them? Thanks.

Everything will be open except banks, post offices, administrative buildings, schools... And if I am not mistaken, the Paris municipal museums take most holidays off, unlike the national museums.

I don't know about small towns. As a comparison, I was amazed at how many businesses (not govt.or banks) in my part of Paris were open May 1. This is certainly a change from what used to be.

On the various hypermarket billboards along the road (even though many places have banned the billboards), you will often see added stickers for "ouverture exceptionnelle" with the various dates. Since there are 4 holidays in May, you will almost certainly see "8 mai" as one of the exceptional opening days.

Thanks, kerouac and Envierges. Since 5/8 falls on a Tuesday and not on a Friday or Monday, I guess there's less chance of linking it to a weekend so not as likely to close for that day. Icelandair doesn't feed us so finding our lunch and dinner is a concern.

On one of those long May weekends, we wondered why a tiny superette in a tiny town was packed on a Thursday morning. Turns out it closed at 1:00 pm and everybody was getting in their last shopping. Nothing was open on Friday. Then on Saturday the parking lot at E Leclerc was full and everybody was trying to make up for those 1.5 missing shopping days.

Yes, we have food shortages in France due to holidays.

In America, you know when a holiday has lost its importance when the run start running mattress sales.