What's open and what's closed in August in France
While it's
not quite true that everyone is on holiday this month
, you are certainly likely to encounter quite a few out-of-office replies if you try emailing a French company during this period, while you'll also likely see quite a few shops that have a notice on the door explaining that they are closed while staff take their annual leave.
Here's a look at what is open and what's closed, and how to find alternatives.
Healthcare
This is a vital service, and emergency healthcare of course continues through the summer - ambulances are available, hospitals work as normal and
Urgènces
(emergency departments) are open to walk-ins. Anecdotal evidence suggests that waiting times in the emergency departments are longer for non-urgent cases during the summer due to staff holidays, but you will be seen eventually.
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However you might find that your doctor or dentist's
cabinet
closes for a few weeks over the summer, especially if there are just one or two doctors working there.
If you cannot wait until your regular doctor's return, you can see another nearby doctor if there is one available, or you can use out-of-hours service SOS Medécins - full details
here
.
Pharmacies remain open and operate the
pharmacie de garde
system, which ensures that there is at least one open in each area - find your nearest one by Googling
pharmacie de garde
plus the name of your commune.
Transport
Public transport continues to run as normal over August, although the country's train system is usually very busy as people take the train to and from their holidays. Booking in advance is highly recommended as many trains sell out, especially over the weekends.
City public transport continues to run, although in Paris the transport operator RATP takes advantage of the quieter season to schedule maintenance and repair work, so you will find that some Metro, tram and RER lines are closed or running a reduced service over August in order to accommodate engineering works. Full details
here
.
Be aware that
autoroutes
and main roads in and out of tourist hotspots are usually very busy in August.
Offices, banks and public administration
Banks close only on Sundays and public holidays, of which there is one in August - Assumption on August 15th, which this year is a Friday. However, some local branches may close for a week in August. If they do, then they typically send a letter to clients informing them ahead of time.
Public administration offices such as the préfecture or mairie only close on public holidays. However, as many staff will be on holiday it's likely that any admin tasks will be slower to be dealt with over August.
The offices of private businesses often close completely for at least a couple of weeks over August so that the staff can go on holiday. Even if the office isn't closed, you'll find that plenty of employees are away, and it's normal for any emails to generate an out-of-office reply telling you that the person is away and will deal with your query when they return.
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Shops
The big shops, multi-nationals, supermarket chains etc open as normal during August, with the possible exception of August when they might have altered opening hours.
However it is common for small, independent businesses such as
boulangeries
, florists or clothes boutiques to close for several weeks in August. They will likely have a hand-written notice on the door informing customers that they are on holiday over specified dates.
Boulangeries used to be bound by a law that required at least one in each area to stay open over the summer. That's no longer a case for legislation, but in practice if there is more than one in a town they usually coordinate their holidays to ensure that they aren't both closed at the same time.
Bars, cafés and restaurants
This really depends on whether you are in a tourist area or not - for tourist businesses, August is their peak time so they will all remain open.
In areas less popular with tourists, you might find that cafés, bars and restaurants also close up for a couple of weeks so that their staff can go on holiday. As with shops, they will likely have a hand-written sign listing their closure period.
Tourist attractions and leisure facilities
Naturally, tourist attractions remain open during August, although you may have to book in advance for the most popular ones.
Leisure centres, swimming pools, adventure playgrounds and theme parks also stay open.
Gyms, leisure centres and pools usually have a 'summer holiday timetable' that covers July and August, when French schoolchildren are on holiday.
Some leisure centres are also used to house holiday camps and various other holiday activities for children, so they may have altered opening hours.
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