National Bank Holidays

LOCAL events, festivals and markets. These are not the correct dates for this year. I'm sorry, I know I should update it every year - but they are roughly the right dates. Do check!

Vire market is Fridays. Others are listed in the leaflets in the gite.

Date	Day	United Kingdom	France
Jan 1st	Tuesday / Mardi	YES - New Years Day	YES - Jour de l’an
Mar 29th	Friday / Vendredi	YES - Easter Bank Holiday	NO
Mar 31st	Sunday / Dimanche		NO
Apr 1st	Monday / Lundi		YES - Lundi de Pâques
May 1st	Wednesday / Mecredi	NO	YES - Labour Day / Fêtes du Travail
May 6th	Monday / Lundi	YES - May Day Bank Holiday	NO
May 8th	Wednesday / Mecredi	NO	YES - Victory Day / Armistice 1945
May 9th	Thursday / Jeudi	NO	YES - Ascension Day / Ascension
May 19th	Sunday / Dimanche	NO	YES - Whitsun / Pentecôte
June 4th	Tuesday / Mardi	YES - May Bank Holiday	NO
July 14th	Sunday / Dimanche	NO	YES - Bastille Day / Fête National
July 21th	Sunday / Dimanche	NO	NO
Aug 15th		NO	YES - Assumption Day / Assomption
Aug 26th	Monday / Lundi	YES - August Bank Holiday	NO
Sep 15th	Sunday / Dimanche	NO	Maisoncelles la Jourdan Festival of Cider
Nov 1st		NO	YES - All Saints Day / Toussaint
Nov 11th	Monday / Lundi	YES - Remembrance Day	YES - Armistice 1918
Dec 25th		YES - Christmas Day	YES - Noël
Dec 26th		YES - Boxing day	NO

Traditionally ...Please check the dates/days - this is only a guide!
New Year's Day - is devoted to visiting parents and older relatives and exchanging gifts (instead of on Christmas Day). Don't forget to tip your concierges as they will expect it.
May 1 - is a legal holiday in France. A French custom is to present muguets (lilies of the valley) to friends and loved ones to bring them happiness and porte bonheur (good luck). Everyone is entitled to pick wild muguet, found in the forests surrounding Paris. May 1st is the only day of the year that anyone can sell muguet or other flowers without a license. If you find yourself at the Elysées Palace, you might see Les Forts des Halles (porters of the Paris market), dressed in the traditional porters outfits, presenting muguet to the President of France.
Assumption - celebrations such as harvest festivals and the blessing of the sea happen on this day.
All Souls Day - it is the custom in France to visit the graves of relatives on the day before the Jour des Morts or on the day itself. Flowers (usually chrysanthemums) are placed on the graves. Chrysanthemums were the seasonal flowers before greenhouses existed, and are the traditional flowers used on this day. Thus don't even consider offering chrysanthemums when invited to people's houses for dinner, etc.
Christmas - is the time to eat the holiday foods at the traditional Christmas dinner (le réveillon): boudin blanc (white sausage), foie gras, pheasants, saumon fumé, huîtres, and bûches de Noël (yule log-shaped cake).