Easter Holiday Period in France

Does the bureaucracy slow down or close during school holiday over Easter period in France? Business as usual for mairie and notaire?

A lot of the jours fériées fall on mondays and thursdays this year, so as well as things being closed on these days many will add on an extra day to make a long weekend. So

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Are public holidays

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Always best to check at one’s Mairie (and Notaire) if planning/hoping to visit 'em around holiday times. :+1: :crossed_fingers:

I know ours will put a large notice on the door, warning of an impending closure
 and what to do in an emergency.

French schools don’t have Easter holidays like British schools do. Their spring holidays aren’t based around the Easter weekend in the same way.

But also, as we found last year, life can stop almost completely for businesses around bank holiday times.

& deliveries :wink:

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Yep, and deliveries. :laughing:

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Thanks Stella. If we can’t physically visit the Mairie, will they normally put notice of the opening days/hours during holiday on their website?

Yes, we have googled their school term dates, and also noticed they have different zones for staggered school holidays.

hopefully not stop for the whole 2 weeks


The mairie may be better, but my friend above was referring to me trying to order a bath and get it delivered during bank holiday season, which coincided with our visit. It just wasn’t happening in those 2 weeks of May.

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It’s not that but the World doesn’t shut down over Easter in France like it does in the U.K. The thing to look out for are the bank holiday dates that Jane gave you. Expect everything (except supermarkets) to be closed on those dates and with the Thursdays be aware that places might be closed on the Friday as well. In your original question you seemed to think that the school holidays over Easter might have a knock on effect to other businesses and offices, that model isn’t appropriate. The staggered term dates are completely different.

Thank you David. Does French bureaucracy slow down during spring school holiday like it in the summer (July August)? As I heard before the process gets slowed down in the summer.

why not check out their website
 :+1:
our Mairie uses Panneau Pocket as well but, of course, they do the basic notice as not everyone has a computer/smart phone (this is Brigadoon country :wink: )

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As a rule of thumb count on nothing in May in France.
Websites may or may not be updated timely to reflect ‘exceptional’ closures.

Mostly the reason won’t be admitted or even referred to. (= typically 4 Public Holidays in May and in some years each one is “bridgeable” by taking an extra day out of the office to make it a 3 or 4 day weekend).

No reason may be given not even, mostly, if an enquiry is made (refer to above :slight_smile: ). Or a different reason (pinch of salt may be needed) may be given. Or somehow people in firms are not contactable.

For non-performance, culturally it seems there’s no admission, whether with or without apology. Deadlines will be missed again and again eg for things to be shipped or delivery dates.
Communications to pre-warn or sort things may not happen, eg things that are normally published such as the local supermarket’s weekly brochure, are just not done in certain weeks.

Eventually you’ll connect either a Public Holiday as the reason, or you’ll connect that things are not happening year after year in whichever week of school holidays whatever is supposed to happen, fails. School holiday dates move slightly each year. So that cause might take you 3 years to spot.

Welcome to May. (Though this year the last normally “May” holiday date is 9th June, and Easter very late in April, making 3 weeks, each with a Public Holiday from Easter through into May. Then the other holiday later in May as well as the one that fell out of May into June exceptionally this year. Worse than August IMV as then everyone knows firms close and people are absent.

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