Closures, traffic, and strikes: What to expect for France's Ascension public holiday

Local France

5 days ago

This year, Thursday, May 29th, marks Ascension, offering both a day off work and a chance to
'faire le pont'
(do the bridge) and use a single day of annual leave to take Friday off work, giving yourself a lovely four-day break.
The festival, which Christians believe marks the day that Jesus ascended into heaven, is always 40 days after Easter Sunday, which is why its exact date varies from year to year.
READ MORE:
Why is Ascension Day a public holiday in France?
Here is what to expect over the long weekend.
Closures
Thursday is a
jour férié
for French workers, meaning banks, schools, and public offices (préfectures, town halls, etc) will be closed.
Smaller shops, like your local butcher or cheesemonger, might also close on Thursday, or remain open at reduced hours, as if it were a Sunday. Usually, ahead of a public holiday, smaller shops will post their schedule for the week in a note in the window. Keep an eye out for this in the days to come.
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Most supermarkets remain open, but they may do so at reduced capacity. Museums and tourist sites may close on Thursday; be sure to check their opening hours beforehand. Big sites like the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower will remain open.
You can see the list of other Paris museums that will remain open on Ascension on the
Paris tourism website
.
As for Wednesday and Friday, these are normal working days, but many workers opt to leave early on Wednesday or take off the day on Friday to build a long weekend. Some shops may also remain closed on Friday.
Travel disruption and strikes
As many people use this as an opportunity to take a weekend trip. Expect larger crowds and longer lines at tourist sites during the weekend, as well as on the roads, and at airports and train stations.
On top of that, there has been recent protest action by taxi drivers across the country, and on Monday, French farmers began another wave of protests.
READ MORE:
Latest: French farmer tractor protests restart, while taxi drivers target airports
Both of these movements have involved road blockades and 'go-slow' campaigns, though taxi drivers have focused primarily on blocking access to airports (particularly in the Paris region) and train stations.
Farmers have so far focused their protest action on motorways (
autoroutes
).
The French rail union, Sud-Rail, which represents ticket inspectors, has threatened to potentially call for strike action during the Ascension long weekend.
So far, no official strike notices have been filed, but a representative from the union told the French press that the strikes would be called "four days in advance."
Keep an eye on The Local's
strikes section
for more updates on action by taxi drivers, farmers and rail workers.
Traffic
Aside from possible slowdowns due to protest action by taxi drivers and farmers, French traffic watchdog
Bison Futé
had also predicted heavy traffic for departures across the country on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as for returns on Sunday (particularly those driving from the north-west).
The roads are expected to be clear on Friday and Saturday for both departures and returns.
Weather
Overall, French forecasters are predicting cloudy weather across much of France at the start of the week, and some showers mid-week, with the sun expected to come back out across much of the country on Friday.
As for the weekend, forecasters have warned that cloudy and stormy weather (particularly in the south-east) may return on Saturday, with rain expected across most of France on Sunday.
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Temperatures are expected to remain cool from Monday to Thursday, with warmer weather returning on Friday. In the south-west, temperatures are expected to reach 30C, Le Figaro reported.
However, this may be short-lived with temperatures potentially dropping again with the rain and clouds over the weekend, according to reports by
Météo France
on Monday.