Day 3221 (Friday) 3rd April 2026

This is Saint Agnes north of Menton

and this is the Monastere de Cimiez in Nice.

We had planned on going to Haut de Cagnes today but it was such a lovely, sunny day we decided to stay at home and I sunbathed for a few hours – it was bliss- 28 degrees on our thermometer.

I

t’s super warm until about 3pm when the sun goes behind the buildings it’s back to winter woollies, not for long now, it’ll be hot all day soon.

The yachts that usually moor in the port in the summer are slowly coming back, which is another sign of spring coming.

 

The perfect blue sky is also back – long may it stay.

Why is Good Friday not a holiday in (most of) France?

Children take part in an Easter egg hunt near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP

Despite many other Christian festivals being public holidays in France, Good Friday is not a day off for the majority of the country. Here's why.

Easter holidays are traditionally a time for families to gather and eat chocolate - but the four-day weekend is a tradition that only one part of France gets to enjoy.

The Friday before Easter - which this year falls on April 3rd - is a public holiday across much of Europe.

And it has always been something of a puzzle why France  - a country that gives workers the day off for Ascension, Assumption and All Saints, among others - doesn't have a holiday for Good Friday.

And it's even more weird when you consider that in some parts of the country it is actually a holiday. 

The tradition of treating the Friday before Easter as a normal work day didn't start until 1905 when the country officially became secular, dividing the Church from the state. 

From then on, unlike the rest of Europe, French workers have been forced to treat Good Friday, called Vendredi Saint in French, as a day just like any other.

But not everywhere.

Much to the envy of most workers in France, those living in the départements of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle - which make up the historic Alsace region in eastern France, do get a day off on Good Friday.

And the reason for this is Alsace's rather complicated history of switching hands between Germany and France. 

In 1871 Germany seized Alsace including most of the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin as well as most the department of Moselle in the region of Lorraine.

The territory wasn't returned to France until the end of the First World War in 1918. 

At that point citizens of the territory weren't exactly thrilled at the idea of losing the day off and simply refused to give it up...perhaps demonstrating a French side to their natures which hadn't been lost during all those the years of German rule.  

Their demands were met and the piece of legislation which makes the region an exception, known as the Concordat of Alsace-Moselle, sealed the deal. 

And in fact, it is for this same reason that this region gets St. Stephen's Day, also known as Boxing Day, as a day off like many other European countries.  Those living in the rest of France however have to return to work on December 26th.

Perhaps unsurprisingly there have been regular challenges to the Concordat, with many arguing that the region should have the same rules as the rest of the country. 

Although as Eric Sander, local law expert in the Grand Est capital Strasbourg, pointed out to France Bleu, there are unlikely to be any politicians willing to fight that particular battle.

Easter Monday

So following that logic, Easter Monday is presumably a normal day in France too?

No, actually Easter Monday is a public holiday.

And it's unique in the French holiday calendar in that it's the only day off where there isn't either a national event or a Christian festival (although it's obviously linked to Easter, the main day in the Christian calendar is Sunday, when Jesus rose again after being crucified).

It was Napoleon who made this a public holiday back in 1802 when he trimmed down the 50 or so public holidays that the French celebrated at the time.

So why didn't Easter Monday get the chop along with Good Friday in 1905?

Er, well look, we never said France made sense. Just enjoy the day off..

This article explains the lovely weather

Easter weather: Early taste of summer in southern France

People enjoy the sun in a public garden in Toulouse, southern France. AFP PHOTO / REMY GABALDA (Photo by REMY GABALDA / AFP)

The weather is set to treat the southern half of France with a brief hint of summer, with temperatures set to soar into the upper-20Cs over the long Easter weekend.

As France prepares for a three-day weekend (or a four-day weekend for those living in Alsace-Lorraine), the weather is predicted to bring an Easter treat.

A high-pressure system is expected to settle over a large part of the country bringing stable weather, little wind, and plenty of sunshine. 

In most areas, sunny spells should make conditions ideal for outdoor Easter egg hunts over the weekend, though anyone in Brittany and Normandy should carry coats and umbrellas, as clouds and rain are possible, particularly along coastal areas.

On Saturday, temperatures are expected to climb as high as 21C in the afternoon, even in northern areas, with any early rain passing relatively early. Sunny spells should warm a large part of the country from the afternoon.

On Easter Sunday, temperatures will range from 11C to 16C at sunrise and from 12C to 21C in the afternoon.

The northwest may experience a more unsettled morning, as the remnants of Storm Dave pass northern areas with some isolated showers from Lille to La Rochelle, while the rest of the country will enjoy mostly sunny weather. Throughout the day, sunshine will dominate proceedings.

Monday is forecast to be the best of the long weekend, with temperatures — after any early fog clears — ranging from 10C to 18C ​​in the morning and up to 25C in the afternoon, mostly in the southwest and southeast, rising as high as 30C locally in parts of Nouvelle Aquitaine.

Only the far west of Brittany will miss out on the sun, forecasters believe.

Tuesday, too, is forecast to be warm and sunny, with temperatures reaching 20C in the north and 28C in the south. But less settled conditions are expected from Wednesday.