We just celebrated Easter in France. Unlike in the United States, Easter Monday is also a holiday in France. This means that we do not work as this day was traditionally spent for family time and religious celebration.<\/p>\n
Here are the other observed holidays in France: 12 a year in total.<\/p>\n
January 1st: <\/strong>This is the first day of the year. It is an observed holiday since the night before, everybody was partying for New Years Eve, on \u201cSaint Sylvester\u201d. On January 1st one needs to rest!<\/p>\n Easter Monday: <\/strong>This is a day for catholic celebrations that is not on a fixed date, but is always the day after Easter Sunday. Easter is also the day where families organize eggs hunts for kids! The parents hide chocolate eggs in the gardens and children pick them up in a basket.<\/p>\n Labor Day: <\/strong>This holiday is observed on May 1st.\u00a0 It celebrates the first strike in the United States which took place in Chicago on May 1st 1886, resulting in 8 hour work days becoming the standard. Every year in France, workers protest in the street but people also buy lily of the valley from the many sales people who pop up everywhere that day. The tradition has nothing to do with the May 1st protest. It is just believed that buying a bunch of lilies of the valley on May 1st is supposed to bring luck for the whole year!<\/p>\n May 8th 1945: <\/strong>French people celebrate the end of the Second World War. On May 8th, 1945 Germany surrendered. Since then, May 8th pays tribute to the lives that have been lost during this war.<\/p>\n Ascension Thursday: <\/strong>This day is not a fixed date either! This catholic celebration is set forty days after Easter.\u00a0 Most French people choose to make it a \u201cbridge\u201d which means having a four day weekend by taking the Friday off combined with the holiday!<\/p>\n Pentecote Monday: <\/strong>The day after Pentecote Sunday is an observed holiday in France. Pentecote is a religious celebration, both Christian and Jewish celebrate 50 days after Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n Independence Day:<\/strong> On July 14th French people celebrate Bastille day which, on July 14th 1789, became the symbol of the French revolution.<\/p>\n Assumption Day:<\/strong> On August 15th Assumption Day is an observed holiday in France. Many religious processions and celebrations are organized throughout the day.<\/p>\n All Saints Day: <\/strong>November 1st\u00a0 is the remembrance day to the deceased. Traditionally, the families meet in the cemeteries to clean up and flower the tombs on that day.<\/p>\n Armistice Day: <\/span><\/strong>On November 11th, 1918 the armistice of the First World War was signed. As a celebration of this event, a procession is organized each year to the Arc de Triomphe (Triumph Arch) where the remains of an unknown soldier have been buried.<\/p>\n Christmas:<\/strong> You know the date for sure! Friends and families meet on December 25th to exchange gifts and share gargantuan dinners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We just celebrated Easter in France. Unlike in the United States, Easter Monday is also a holiday in France. This means that we do not work as this day was traditionally spent for family time and religious celebration. Here are the other observed holidays in France: 12 a year in total. January 1st: This is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[34,36,75,83,85],"tags":[195,400,413,437,438,581],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/041818-holidaysinfrance.jpg?fit=2000%2C1038&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kt18-BH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2268,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-traditions\/celebrate-easter-in-france\/","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":0},"title":"Celebrate Easter in France","date":"March 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Easter exists in France and in America but there are a few differences between the 2 celebrations. In France, even if this is a religious holiday, it is more often a family holiday to celebrate the beginning of Spring. Normally, the French Spring Break always happens around this date. Another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Traditions"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/032818-paques.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1299,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture-en\/les-cloches-de-paques-the-french-easter-bells\/","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":1},"title":"The French Easter Bells!","date":"April 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Easter in France is a quiet holiday where families, both religious and non-religious, spend the day together with a traditionally large meal. This meal is typically served over many courses including lamb for dinner and a dessert which includes chocolate. But for more religious families, there is the tale of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Culture"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/041217-Easter-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9542,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture\/lily-of-the-valley-celebration\/","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":2},"title":"Lily of the Valley Celebration","date":"May 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In France, May 1st is the day that workers\u2019 rights are celebrated and the day people give each other lily of the valley. Lily of the valley is a flower adorned with little white bell-shaped flowers and long green leaves. It blossoms in the Spring thus celebrates the return of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Culture"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/lily-of-the-valley.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1047,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture-en\/happy-new-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":3},"title":"Happy New Year!","date":"January 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In France people commonly wish a happy new year to each other by \u00ab\u00a0Bonne ann\u00e9e\u00a0! Bonne sant\u00e9\u00a0! \u00bb You may also use a longer and more sophisticated wish like \u201c I wish you a year full of happiness and achievement.\u201d French people exchange New Year greetings\u00a0 when they meet in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Culture"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/010117-HappyNewYear-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8150,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture\/christmas-in-france\/","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":4},"title":"Christmas in France","date":"December 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Christmas is a famous holiday all around the world, a family day where we give each other presents and eat a good meal together. With that said, each country has its own traditions around the 25th of December. France is no exception. How do French people celebrate Christmas? To start,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Culture"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/122018-christmas.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9815,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture\/neighbors-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":5},"title":"Neighbor\u2019s Day","date":"May 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"May 29th in France is \u201cNeighbors Day\u201d. However, exceptionally this year, it will take place on September 18th. Instead, on May 29th, French neighbors will celebrate \u00ab\u00a0Neighbors Day on their balconies and at their windows\u201d. The means of communication will be explained on their website. What is it? Every year,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Culture"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/neighborsday.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2337"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9065,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions\/9065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}