France: Public Holidays, Long Weekends, Food & Accomodation ?

[Bonners]

I start at Le Puy on Sunday May 4. I realize that in France shops tend to be closed on Sundays and Mondays. Also that on long weekends accommodation is difficult as French people tend to book well in advance Would appreciate any info on availability of accommodation and any difficulties obtaining some food supplies. eg can your host of the previous night assist with future accommodation? and would I have to carry a lot of food? My French language is very basic to non existent.. If a situation becomes stressful I tend to walk away. I would prefer to go hungry and sleep rough than make anyone else angry or frustrated. Many thanks, Richard.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Your host will help with phone calls for future accommodations. There are many holidays in May, so every weekend seems to be a long weekend. Most gites take reservations, so dropping in will often result in a "complet" sign. The French like budget travel, so when the cheap beds are gone, there may be plenty of hotels in chambres available.

 

[Kitsambler]

If you encounter a situation where your language capability is just not up to the immediate requirement, some good resources are: Canadian pilgrims, French walkers from Normandy, and the Tourism Info office.

 

[mspath]

If you encounter a situation where your language capability is just not up to the immediate requirement, some good resources are: Canadian pilgrims, French walkers from Normandy, and the Tourism Info office.

When all else fails resort to smiles and pantomime!

 

[Kanga]

I start at Le Puy on Sunday May 4. I realize that in France shops tend to be closed on Sundays and Mondays. Also that on long weekends accommodation is difficult as French people tend to book well in advance Would appreciate any info on availability of accommodation and any difficulties obtaining some food supplies. eg can your host of the previous night assist with future accommodation? .

Richard, have you got your copy of Miam Miam Dodo for the GR 65 yet? If not then get it, or at least download the App and follow the link to "acces aux plans". It's a bit clunky but persist. Make a few bookings now. That will give you some confidence. We often got our host to book ahead for us, no problem (offered to pay for phone call). You will see from Miam that many of the chambre d'hôtes and gites have English listed but don't be frightened by French, people are really very helpful. As someone else said, lots of arm waiving and gestures, smiling and a sense of humour help.

As for food, when you book ask for "Demi pension", and you will get a very reasonably priced and usually delicious dinner, as well as a light French breakfast. In the very small villages and isolated gites there is no alternative. We always carry a bit of dried fruit and nuts as emergency rations but otherwise just stop whenever we come to a bakery or chacuterie and buy a few things for lunch. Miam Miam Dodo will tell you exactly what food is available and where - it is invaluable.

 

[Harington]

Richard, have you got your copy of Miam Miam Dodo for the GR 65 yet? If not then get it, or at least download the App and follow the link to "acces aux plans". It's a bit clunky but persist. Make a few bookings now. That will give you some confidence. We often got our host to book ahead for us, no problem (offered to pay for phone call). You will see from Miam that many of the chambre d'hôtes and gites have English listed but don't be frightened by French, people are really very helpful. As someone else said, lots of arm waiving and gestures, smiling and a sense of humour help.

As for food, when you book ask for "Demi pension", and you will get a very reasonably priced and usually delicious dinner, as well as a light French breakfast. In the very small villages and isolated gites there is no alternative. We always carry a bit of dried fruit and nuts as emergency rations but otherwise just stop whenever we come to a bakery or chacuterie and buy a few things for lunch. Miam Miam Dodo will tell you exactly what food is available and where - it is invaluable.

French holidays: May 1st, May 8th, Ascension Day (May 29th this year), Monday of Pentecost (June 9th). Smiling does help a lot, and you will get by.

 

[LesBrass]

Bonners, something to consider is that some folks may bridge Thursday bank holidays and extend them into the weekend. My sons primary school did this to extend weekends but it's never happened in his secondary school. It's not an official practice but smaller shops/business might... just something to bear in mind this year.

Around here even if it's a bank holiday bakeries will still open for a few hours... our village baker is even open on christmas morning and there is always a queue. Our local town has a small market every sunday morning too. Bakers will often sell filled bagettes, quiche, drinks, cakes and of course bread... we struggled to find a parking space this morning on our way through, the baker was so busy.

Whilst not uniform across france, more and more supermarkets are opening on sunday mornings. Our local intermarche opens until 11:45 and a baker sells bread outside on a stall alongside the rotisserie chicken man... and it's always busy. Our shops tend to be open on Mondays (but not restaurants) although our village shop closes on wednesday afternoons.

The good thing about walking is May is that there are lots and lots of fetes - we have flowers and strawberries coming up every weekend now until the end of May... plenty of opportunities for food and drink. Again I dont know if this is uniform across france but in our area every village and town will hold a small service of remembrance on VE day on the 8th May. For us, people gather in the village square and walk to the remembrance memorial. The names of those who died in battle are read out and normally the mayor will make a speech, and veterans will carry the regimental colours. After people gather in the village hall for something to drink... all-comers are always welcome.

The weather is pretty wonderful at the moment and it's a great time to be walking... all my plants and flowers seem to be a few weeks ahead of themselves it's been so warm. Have a wonderful time!

p.s. also try Tourist Information for accommodation - some will also book ahead for you. My friends with gites say this year is slow/quiet so maybe you wont have a problem... and as others have said a smile will do wonders and as the frenchs seem to be a nation of walkers I'm sure folks will do their best to help you.

 

[LesBrass]

p.s. for language, when we first moved to France someone told me something that helped me so much when I was learning the language... almost every english word that ends with ent (different) or ant (important) or ion (tradition) is a french word... so I would use these words as often as possible and 99% of the time it worked... not only that but folks would say how good my french was because of the vocabularly I was able to use... little did they know! Even now if i'm not sure of a word, I think of more formal english words and say them with my best french accent and very often it works.

The same is true of english words that end with ic... in french they're spelt differently (ecomonique)... and where we would add ly at the end of a word the french usually add ment eg lent (slow) lentement (slowly)... but maybe that's not so helpful!

bon chance!

 

[Bonners]

p.s. for language, when we first moved to France someone told me something that helped me so much when I was learning the language... almost every english word that ends with ent (different) or ant (important) or ion (tradition) is a french word... so I would use these words as often as possible and 99% of the time it worked... not only that but folks would say how good my french was because of the vocabularly I was able to use... little did they know! Even now if i'm not sure of a word, I think of more formal english words and say them with my best french accent and very often it works.

The same is true of english words that end with ic... in french they're spelt differently (ecomonique)... and where we would add ly at the end of a word the french usually add ment eg lent (slow) lentement (slowly)... but maybe that's not so helpful!

bon chance!

Merci pour votre informacion. Many thanks, your response has alleviated many of my nagging concerns. Richard

 

[Harington]

p.s. for language, when we first moved to France someone told me something that helped me so much when I was learning the language... almost every english word that ends with ent (different) or ant (important) or ion (tradition) is a french word... so I would use these words as often as possible and 99% of the time it worked... not only that but folks would say how good my french was because of the vocabularly I was able to use... little did they know! Even now if i'm not sure of a word, I think of more formal english words and say them with my best french accent and very often it works.

The same is true of english words that end with ic... in french they're spelt differently (ecomonique)... and where we would add ly at the end of a word the french usually add ment eg lent (slow) lentement (slowly)... but maybe that's not so helpful!

bon chance!

or even bonne chance

 

[Breugel]

French holidays: May 1st, May 8th, Ascension Day (May 29th this year), Monday of Pentecost (June 9th). Smiling does help a lot, and you will get by.

Please bear in mind that if a holiday is on a Thursday the Friday is usually also "taken" to "bridge to the weekend", in french : "Faire le pont". However, the grandes surfaces - the malls are usually open on holidays and ponts. They are indicated on the white road signs as "z.a." - zone d'activités / or centre commercial. Usually to be found a bit on the outskirts of market towns and larger places.