French public and school holidays 2023

French public and school holidays 2023

Here’s to a happy and healthy New Year to you all. 

 

As has become a tradition for 1^st January, here is my annual post with all the French public holidays, school holidays and other notable dates, plus how they are celebrated here in France, for 2023. 

 

Public Holidays in France 2023

1^st January, New Year’s Day, jour de l’an (a Sunday this year)

9^th April, Easter Sunday, Pâques

10^th April, Easter Monday, lundi de Pâques (note there is no Good Friday holiday in France unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

1^st May, Fête du Travail

8^th May, Victory in Europe Day, Victoire 1945 

18^th May, Ascension Day, Ascension (note schools will have an extra day off on Friday 19^th May for the bridge (pont)) 

29^th May, Pentecost Monday, lundi de Pentecôte

14^th July, Fête Nationale

15^th August, Assumption Day, Assomption 

1^st November, All Saint's Day, Toussaint

11^th November, Armistice Day, Armistice 1918 (a Saturday this year)

25^th December, Christmas Day, Jour de Noël (note there is no Boxing Day holiday in France on 26^th unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

Faire le pont

 

Faire le pont

Except for the holidays linked to Easter: Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Pentecost Monday, the above dates are the same every year and the holiday is always observed on the actual date rather than being moved to the nearest Monday (as the UK would do). Public holidays can therefore fall on weekends; to make up for this it is not uncommon for people to faire le pont (make a bridge) if a holiday falls on a Thursday (Ascension Day) or a Tuesday, by taking off the Friday or Monday to give themselves a four-day weekend. This leave will be part of their annual holiday entitlement, or the hours need to be made up, so while most businesses will be open on bridge days, some staff shortages can be expected. 

 

It is worth noting that in many areas of rural France, although some opening is becoming more common, most shops are likely to be either closed or only open in the mornings on public holidays.

 

Other dates to note and celebrate

6^th January, Epiphany, celebrated in France with a Galette des Rois (see here)

11^th January, winter sales begin, soldes d’hiver, sales are regulated in France and the winter sales will run from 11^th January to 7^th February 

2^nd February Candlemas day, Chandeleur, celebrated in France with pancakes (see here)

21^st February, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras when carnival time begins in France and pancakes, or beignets (similar to doughnuts) are eaten.

26^th March, clocks spring forward an hour to Central European Summer Time

1^st April, Poisson d’avril celebrated in France with sticky fish (see here)

2^nd April, Palm Sunday, Rameaux a day where our local boulangeries bake something different (see here)

27^th May, National Resistance Day, journée nationale de la Résistance

2^nd June, Neighbours’ Day, fêtes des voisins, often celebrated in France with shared meals

4^th June, Mother’s Day, fêtes des mères

18^th June, Father’s Day, fêtes des pères

21^st June, world music day, fête de la musique, celebrated with free concerts in towns and villages all over France

28^th June, summer sales begin, soldes d’été, and will run until 25^th July

1^st July to 23^rd July, Le Tour de France, with a planned depart in Bilbao, Spain, and a finish on the Champs-Elysées in Paris

23^rd July to 30^th July, Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, begins in Clermont-Ferrand and finishes in Pau  

29^th October, clocks go back an hour to Central European Time (although the future of this is up for debate)

Vacances scolaires 2023 service-public.fr

 

School Holidays

In France the schools are split into three zones and most of the holidays are staggered so not everyone is trying to hit the ski slopes or beaches at the same time, although be prepared for extra traffic on the roads on all Saturdays during the school holidays, or better still avoid driving on these days.

 

Here are the dates for 2023:

The winter holiday is from 3^rd February to 6^th March. 

Zone A gets the first two weeks, Zone B the middle two and Zone C the last two.

 

The spring holiday is from 7^th April to 9^th May. 

Zone A gets the first two weeks, Zone B the middle two and Zone C the last two weeks.

 

The summer holiday for all zones is from 7^th July until 4^th September.

 

The October holiday for all zones is from 20^th October to 6^th November.

 

The Christmas holiday for all zones is from 22^nd December to 7^th January 2024.

 

Covid-19 has evolved from something that stopped the world to something we all need to live with. As I write this, overseas travel is pretty much back to normal, although we are still much happier wearing our masks when using public transport. Here is to lots of safe travel adventures in France this year and I hope you find this useful for planning your trip in the quieter weeks outside of the French school holidays. 

 

  

11th November, villages and towns remember

11th November 2022 in our village

We have now been home from the UK for two weeks. Two rather busy weeks, but without work at the château it has been good to have a variety of things to fill my days with.

 

I can vividly remember our first autumn in France, eighteen years ago. September had been hot, with misty mornings turning into afternoons with temperatures hitting 32º. October was mild, as was the beginning of November. However, as the 11^th of November arrived, so did the cold northerly winds, the air became glacial and winter began to bite. This is a pattern that has repeated itself many times over the years. On Thursday, we awoke to mist. It was much colder than Wednesday and our bike ride out of the village to the egg farm wasn’t fun. The air was heavy with moisture and each pedal stroke felt like the mist was pushing against us and progress was slow. We arrived back home soaked from the water droplets that had seeped into every fibre of our clothing and unlike the September misty mornings, this didn’t lift to reveal sunny skies. The chill it brought with it remained, and the house felt cold. I thought the mid-November weather change had arrived, but just to prove Mother Nature has the final say, yesterday and today have been warm and sunny, lunch-in-the-garden days.

Reading For the Fallen.
Merci Françoise pour cette photo

 

Yesterday, the 11^th November, was Remembrance Day, and a public holiday here in France. It was lovely to catch up with our neighbours and friends outside the salle des fêtes and take part in the memorial service. The maire read out a letter from the government before one of the children laid the floral wreath and then Adrian and I laid our Royal British Legion poppy wreath before reciting the famous verse from For the Fallen by Robert Laurence Binyon, in English (Adrian) and French (me).

 

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:

 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

 

We will remember them.

 

Lantern des Morts, Pierre Levée cemetery, Poitiers

Growing up, attending this ceremony was something Ed always did, without question, from the age of four. Imagine how proud I was when he sent me a few photos from the local ceremony he’d attended on Friday morning from the Pierre Levée cemetery in Poitiers. It was a slightly larger event than our village one, with a number of dignitaries laying floral wreaths at the foot of the lantern des morts that stands tall and proud in the cemetery, the rows of French and German First World War graves standing silently behind it. As in our village, the council try to involve the younger generation in the ceremony, with each wreath being presented to the person laying it by a younger person from the crowd and Ed was selected to hand the President of the Conseil Départemental de la Vienne his wreath. Well done Ed, but I think Adrian and I deserve a “parenting pat on the back moment” too for bringing him up to realise how important these ceremonies are, and how we must remember the fallen.

 

Today the sun is still with us, so a bike ride with friends to market was a great start to the day. Coffees, croissants, a few chores in town ticked off and lots of laughs and chatter. Buoyed up by a morning outdoors, this afternoon was also spent in the garden, cutting back the fennel and hollyhocks, tidying the daisies and mowing the lawn (maybe for the final time). The doors and windows have been open all afternoon, the washing is out, Ed and Pearl (who arrived last night) have walked the dog, as well as catching up with their friends for lunch out and the back garden looks much tidier. This evening we will enjoy family time together and maybe even aperos in the garden.

 

  

Lockdown diaries, day thirteen, we will remember them

Our village remembers

Day thirteen, Wednesday 11^th November 2020 

We will remember them

As 11 o’clock fell in France, our online yoga class took a respectful pause and minute’s silence. Standing quietly on my mat, my eyes were drawn to the small poppy on the spine of The Last Veteran by Peter Parker, sitting amongst books on a similar theme on Adrian’s bookshelf.

Adrian's bookshelf

 

Every year our village holds a small ceremony on 11^th November at the war memorial in the car park, opposite the church. We have always attended, with Ed, who in recent years has often had the honour of being the village flag bearer. When I was on the council, I introduced the laying of a poppy wreath to sit alongside the fresh flowers from the commune and Ed and I would read out a verse from the war poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon. 

 

This morning the Maire and a few others, masked and maintaining safe distances from each other, laid the floral tribute at the base of the memorial. There was no vin d’honneur or aperitif served in the salle des fêtes, and yet another moment where the community would normally come together, passed into Covid-19 obscurity. 

 

Laying the poppy wreath

We respectfully waited until midday, 11 o’clock in the UK, and then quietly laid the poppy wreath next to the maire’s flowers. There was no audience to hear our poem, nor any French friends or neighbours to need Ed’s translation, but marking the moment still seemed the correct thing to do.

 

“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.”

Laurence Binyon

Poppys in a field in France

Diary of Covid-19 confinement, day forty-one

Our village war memorial 

Day forty-one, 26^th April 2020

It is the last Sunday in April, which I found out today is remembered in France as the Journée Nationale du Souvenir de la Deportation, or national day of remembrance for those who were deported and interned in the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. I’m not sure how I’ve missed this until now, as it has been ‘commemorated’ in most main towns and cities since 1954, with the laying of flowers at the war memorial. Life is not ideal for many of us at the moment and most families are affected somehow, whether it is by health issues, financial worries, or being isolated from families, but discovering this national day brought it home to me that we are still in a much better place than so many who have gone before us.

Adrian in the jungle

Clearing the jungle

Motivation was in short supply this morning, despite the warmth and sunshine from a day when storms had been forecast, but eventually we got going on what turned out to be a pretty productive day. A bit more weeding from me before lunch and some major cutting back from Adrian, that then kept him busy for most of the afternoon too. 

The edges of our orchard have been completely taken over by monster bay trees, rampant ground elder, knee high nettles and brambles that weave their way through everything. Somewhere in amongst them are plum and pear trees; I know because I saw their blossom trying its best a few weeks ago. While I do harvest the bay leaves and nettles, and occasionally the elder flowers, I would prefer to be able to get to the fruit trees to pick the pears and the plums.

Man at work in his barn

It is now looking much better but is one of those jobs that the more you cut back, the more you discover needs cutting back. Once free from the jungle, Adrian shredded all the prunings, and the compost heap he diligently turned during the week, has now got some good chippings to start off this year’s compost supply. I also spotted some rogue courgette family seeds that have germinated in the heap of compost ready and waiting to be used. I love to watch these grow as quite often they travel metres from their base and produce some monster squash (see here) that are never quite like anything I grew last year but taste great.

Compost heap

I’ve had a bit of quality time in my kitchen too, cooking down the nettles I picked, that will be added to my soups, making humous from the chickpeas left over from last night’s sweet potato and chickpea couscous dish and putting together a homemade fish pie for this evening. Don’t tell the boys, but my secret ingredient in the pie is pureed nettles stirred into the bechamel sauce.

 

Fish pie ready to bake

Stay indoors, stay safe.

26th April 2017 cycling from Escos to Salies-de-Béarn, Pyrenees

April holiday memory 

26^th April 2017 and we are still in the Pyrenees, on our bikes, and discovering more old railway lines now repurposed as cycle tracks. There are so many great cycling opportunities in the Pyrenees, even if climbing the cols isn’t your thing and one of my favourite was the voie verte cycle path from Escos to Salies-de-Béarn. Here we were lucky enough to cycle through the fallen blooms from the Acacia trees, whose scent hung in the warm air, and cross the fast flowing Gave d’Oloron river on an ancient iron bridge, while looking at snow covered peeks on the horizon. I am dreaming of returning to the Pyrenees and Pays Basques with our bikes. The weather will be sunny, but not too hot, and we'll feel alive once more as our legs and lungs power us up the passes and across into Spain.

Lockdown library

If you want to experience a little bit of everything the Pyrenees has to offer, then get stuck into the great Fogas Chronicles series of books, set in a Pyrenean mountain village, by Julia Stagg.

6th June 2019, D-Day 75

Just one of the 18 Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries in Normandy

6th June 2019, D-Day 75 years on

Today marks the 75^th anniversary of D-Day, or Operation Overlord, a massive 7000 vessel seaborne invasion by the Allied Forces on the beaches of Normandy that marked the beginning of the liberation of Europe and the end of the Second World War.

Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, D-Day remembered 75 years on

Over 150,000 British, American and Canadian troops landed on an 80km stretch of coastline at Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach with bicycles, bulldozers, tanks, jeeps and trucks, as well as over 11,000 aircraft to support them. By 11^th June over 300,000 troops and 54,000 vehicles had landed in France. This still remains the largest military invasion and even today these are huge numbers to comprehend as are the number of lives lost. 

Landing craft bulldozer as used by my Dad's cousin Cyril, aged 19

In our current troubled political times, with radical nationalism on the rise, never has the message of world peace and unity, remembered with the commemoration of D-Day, seemed so important. In the memory of those who died for our freedom, we must never again let a war on this scale become a possibility.

Memorial in Arromanches, Normandy

With Ed, aged 18, now a similar age to many of the troops who landed on D-Day, watching the footage on the television this morning it feels more poignant than ever before. My Dad’s cousin Cyril was only 19 when he was one of the first to land on Gold Beach on D-Day. He was driving a bulldozer that was used to search for mines and then to help push the landing craft back into the sea, living on the beach for around eight weeks. I cannot imagine the horrific sights he must have seen in that time and certainly don’t want Ed to experience anything like that, ever. Miraculously Cyril survived and spent the rest of the War in France, Belgium and Holland and returned to Normandy many times over the years, with his family, for the commemorations.

German bunker, Normandy D-Day remembered 75 years on

My Granddad Albert, although not part of the D-Day landings, was also in France for about three years during the Second World War, where he served in the Royal Artillery. He would have been 36 years old at the time of the landings and had a wife and young family at home. Details about his time in the War are sketchy, but he was certainly part of the liberation and repatriation teams working in France, Belgium and Germany and we have a very fragile flag that was given to him by a grateful French villager as they passed through – or so the family story goes. 

Inside German bunker, Normandy

We will remember them

Ruins of German bunker, Normandy

This post has been linked to Lou Messugo's #AllAboutFrance

8th May Victory in Europe Day 2019

The grave of Fernand Prevost

8^th May Victory in Europe Day and public holiday in France

8^th May 2019, a damp morning where villagers, hidden under umbrellas, coats and scarves, congregated in the cemetery to stand by a plain grave, situated against the far wall. 

Fernand Prevost

Died for France

Shot by the Germans

In the woods at Bois Cambert

24^thJuly 1944

At the age of 18

There was no official ceremony, or laying of flowers, just a moment of quiet reflection for the loss of a young life to war, almost 75 years ago.

The slow procession then made its way to the village war memorial outside the salle des fêtes (village hall), where the Maire read the address from the French minister in charge of the armed forces.

Ed at the village war memorial

Three years ago, our village lost its last war veteran and since then our son Ed has often been asked by the Maire to hold the flag, both at the 11^th November and 8^th May memorial ceremonies; where the French stand alongside the British, and the young alongside the old, united in remembrance.

Ed is 18 now, the same age as Fernand Prevost, and away at uni with a world of possibilities ahead of him. But he is home today, to do his bit once more and we are very proud of the man our village has turned him into. My mother lost her father in The Second World War, my father’s father was in northern France, possibly on 8^th May 1945, so ensuring Ed remembers has always been important to us, as is the idea of a united not divided Europe, something we will never give up hope of.

To read more about the shootings in our village in 1944 see my post from last year here.

To read about my family’s history in the war see these two posts

Remembering Victory in Europe Day

D-Day Remembered

Unite Not Fight

The French, German and Belgium flags in Melle Deux Sevres

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of many of the bloodiest battles of the First World War including the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Verdun in France. It is also a year that has seen many political changes being made across the globe. Britain has voted to sever it’s ties with the European Union, believing it will be a better place standing alone and sadly newspaper headlines that have celebrated policies to reform immigration rules and give British jobs to British workers have led to anything and anyone foreign being deemed to be suspicious and not to be trusted. As an EU immigrant from the UK living in France and the granddaughter of Irish immigrants who moved to England in the 1930’s this makes me uncomfortable and worried for our future. I’m not an American so don’t really feel I have much to say much about US politics, but again when I read newspaper headlines that talk of building a wall on the Mexican boarder, refusing entry to all Muslims and inciting hatred of minorities, I feel sad and disappointed in the way the world is heading.

The students from Melle, Melle and Melle in our local paper

Thankfully, I have also seem a glimmer of hope this week for a future where ‘unite not fight’ could be a real possibility. Despite the atrocities and loss of lives of 100 years ago, our local market town of Melle, where Ed goes to lycee, is twinned with Melle in Belgium and Melle in Germany and it was heartening to see the Belgium and German flags flying alongside the French tricolore outside the town hall. This year marks the third year where students from all three towns have got together, united in remembrance of those who died in the First World War. In 2014 they attended a ceremony in Belgium and last year they were in Germany. This year our European neighbours are here in France and participated together in a ceremony this morning.

Poppy wreath and French floral tribute

Sadly we couldn’t attend as our village held it’s own ceremony, where two French-born British children laid a Royal British Legion poppy wreath alongside the commune’s floral tribute entwined with the ribbon of the French flag. I see this as another sign of unity between European neighbours and the positive integration of migrants into the community. It was also lovely to see so many villagers of all ages attending the ceremony today, although I’m sure the sunshine provided a bit of extra encouragement. 

Ed visited Melle in Germany, on a language exchange programme last month. In fact it was there that he spent his 16^th birthday, with a family he had only met five days before, but who made a real effort to make his day special. I am looking forward to welcoming their son Maik into our home next year and although I will probably never meet his parents, I am very thankful to them for making Ed feel welcome in their home.

Laying the Poppy wreath in France

I feel we need to do all we can to encourage the younger generation to reach out to each other and build positive bridges with other nationalities and cultures. We are living in a world that needs to remember the conflicts of the past and learn to #UniteNotFight for the future.

This post has been linked to #AllAboutFrance.

A child of Europe remembers 11th November 2014

Reading the names of the villagers who lost their lives

11th November is a public holiday in France and a day when services of remembrance are held throughout the country, from small village ceremonies to large events with military presence in towns and cities. I thought I would share some pictures from our village service this morning. The simple memorial is decorated with flags and a floral tribute and following the Maire reading the address from the ministry, four young people read out the names of the villagers who lost their lives for France during the First World War. It was a proud moment for me to see Ed taking part, although where the deep adult voice came from as he opened his mouth, I have no idea. 

Ed is a child of Europe. He was born in England and despite having lived most of his life in France remains very attached to being British. He has English and Irish roots from my side of the family and you don't have to go back many generations on Ade's side to find German blood too. He is fluent in English and French, which he speaks without an accent, and is also enjoying learning German at school. This morning he did his bit for our French village whilst wearing his poppy and this afternoon the house has been rocking as he jammed along to some of his favourite songs, including a song by a German band called Tokio Hotel. Vive l'Europe.

The village floral tribute

This post is linked to the My Expat Family blog hop run by Seychellesmama - sharing family life as an expat. Click on the image below to see what other expat families are sharing.

Street Art and Remembrance

One of the things I love about being out and about in France, especially during the summer months, is that you are almost guaranteed to stumble across an art installation somewhere. It is likely to be big, bold, colourful and free and it is just as common to find something in a small village as in a large city. Art in the streets is something I think of as being very French and is something that France does well, putting in that little bit of extra effort to look good; giving a town, village or riverbank that certain je ne sais quoi and adding a bit of interest to the passing visitor.

I have previously written a couple of posts about regular art features found locally in Poitou-Charentes; in Angouleme (home of the bande dessinée/cartoon art), in Barro (a small village on the river Charentes that has an annual photography event) and in our local town of Melle. This year, having ventured further from home I was not disappointed, although some of the art was a little bizarre. Here are some pictures of my favourite open art displays from this summer.

Colourful horses in Caen, Normandy celebrating the World Equestrian Games

Festival des Bords de Vire, Land Art in the Vire river valley, Normandy

Droles d'Oiseaux (strange birds, made from scrap metal) in Vouvant, Vendee

However, one of the most spectacular art displays this year took me even further from home than northern France. London was an important part of my life before moving to France and I always enjoy a visit, especially to The City and the area where I worked. When I realised Ade had work in London during Ed’s October holiday I suggested an extra UK family trip and felt it was important to visit the impressive art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at The Tower of London. I now know that it’s not just the French that can put on a show when it comes to street art. With one ceramic poppy to represent every British life lost during the First World War the 888,246 poppies are both spectacular and very moving. 

The Tower of London Remembers

It couldn’t have been more perfect if it had been planned this way; Ade was based in an office over-looking St Katherine’s Dock (just over the road from the Tower), Ed and I visited The Tower Bridge Experience, then we all saw the poppies together before having a meal out and seeing a show. Even the weather was superb and we got to catch up with friends and family too.

I feel it is very important that the younger generations are made aware of the horrors of war and the sacrifices that were made. Ed has now visited some of the D-Day landing beaches and war graves in Normandy, the poppies in London and tomorrow, to tie in with a school history project on the First World War, he will take part in our village remembrance ceremony. Tomorrow is a public holiday in France and villages, towns and cities will all be holding a service often followed by a vin d’honneur. Ed along with three other young people will be reading out the names of the villagers who lost their lives. I will be a very proud Mum.