Public Holidays in France

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Public Holidays in France

The French for: bank holiday/public holiday/legal holiday is un jour férié

• French organisations and businesses close on public holidays. 
• Although some shopping centres and grocers open for part of the day, the majority of shops do not. 
• Police stations and hospitals do not close.
• When a public holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, it is common practice to "make the bridge" (faire le pont) by taking off the Friday or Monday so creating a very long weekend. When this happens you may find businesses running on short staff or smaller family run business closed for the full period.

French Contacts 

• See French government website Service Public

• The Ministère du Travail has information on the law as it affects employment and national public holidays: Click here (in French)

• For the dates of French school holidays from the Department of Education: Click here

Public Holidays Worldwide

• UK: Direct Gov
• US: Office of Personnel Management 
• The World: Jours-Feries.com