French public holidays in 2009
- Sunday 1 January - New Year's Day (Jour de l'an)
- Sunday 12 April - Easter (Pâques)
- Monday 13 April - Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques)
- Friday 1 May - Labour Day (Fête du Travail)
- Friday 8 May - VE Day - WWII Victory Day (Fête de la Victoire 1945)
- Thursday 21 May - Ascension Day (Ascension catholique)
- Sunday 1 June - Whit Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte)
- Tuesday 14 July - Bastille Day (Fête nationale)
- Saturday 15 August - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Assomption)
- Sunday 1 November - All Saints' Day (Toussaint)
- Wednesday 11 November - Armistice Day (Armistice 1918)
- Friday 25 December - Christmas Day (Noël)
During public holidays many of the supermarkets and some shops are either closed or have restricted opening hours. There are also special fetes or festivals that take place on these days. For example, on Bastille Day many towns and villages stage large free firework displays.
French school holidays in 2009 (Zone A), Brittany (Rennes)
- 09/02/09 to 20/02/09 - Winter holiday
- 06/04/09 to 17/04/09 - Spring holiday
- 06/07/09 to 02/09/09 - Summer holiday
- 26/10/09 to 05/11/09 - Toussaint holiday (All Saints) - Autumn holiday
- 21/12/09 - 01/01/10 - Christmas holiday
Notes
When a holiday happens to fall on a Tuesday or Thursday, many French workers may take the preceding or following day as holiday to extend the weekend.
