Day 3262 (Thursday) 14th May 2026

This is the Hotel Negresco in Nice

and this is the seafront of Villefranche-sur-Mer.

 

It’s Ascension Day today, which means it’s another bank holiday, this is the third one this month. It was lovely and warm but there was a chilly wind which was a bit strong to go on the scooter so we stayed at home.  

Ascension Day (Ascension) marks the day that Jesus ascended to heaven following his crucifixion and resurrection, according to Christian belief. It is the 40th day of Easter and is ten days before Pentecost Sunday. It is a public holiday in France.

Ascension Day is a public holiday. It is a day off for the general population, and schools and most businesses are closed.

Some Christians in France attend church services on Ascension Day.

©iStockphoto.com/Slobo Mitic

What Do People Do?

Some Christians in France may attend special church services to mark the ascension of Jesus to heaven. For other people, Ascension Day is an opportunity to spend time with family and friends or to enjoy the spring weather. Ascension Day falls on a Thursday so many people take a day of their annual leave on Friday and so enjoy a four-day weekend. They often use the opportunity to take a short vacation.

Public Life

Public life is generally quiet on Ascension Day. Post offices, banks, stores and other businesses are closed. Outside of tourist areas, restaurants and cafés may also be closed. However, bakeries and some stores in Paris, as well as at airports and railway stations and along major highways, are open. Small businesses may also be closed on the Friday and Saturday after Ascension Day, even if they are usually open on these days.

Public transport service schedules vary depending on where one lives and intends to travel. Some villages and small towns hold sporting or cultural events on Ascension Day and during the following weekend. These may cause some local disruption to traffic.

Background and symbols

Ascension Day marks the day that Jesus ascended to heaven following his crucifixion and resurrection. It is celebrated in many countries including in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States.

Beer consumption overtakes wine for the first time in France

A waiter holds beers behind the counter of L'Apostrophe bar in Lyon in 2025 - the first year that beer consumption overtook wine in France. Photo by OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP

For the first time in France's recorded history, the country's inhabitants are drinking more beer than wine.

It's been gaining for some time, but newly released data from 2025 shows that for the first time beer was the most-consumed alcoholic drink in France, overtaking wine.

The Organisation internationale de la vigne et du vin has released its annual statistics for 2025, showing that in France people drank 22 million hectolitres of wine.

According to the French brewery association Brasseurs de France, in the same year the French consumed 22.1 million hectolitres of beer, just a drop over but representing the first time that France has officially favoured beer over the more traditional drink of wine.

The change has been expected for some time as the French beer scene has been steadily expanding with an explosion in the number of craft beer breweries and microbreweries - especially outside the traditional beer-drinking region of north-east France.

But at the same time, wine consumption has fallen steeply in France, reflecting worldwide trends which are already causing major headaches for French wine producers who are contending with falling demand.

Wine consumption in France has fallen by 37 percent within 30 years  - in 1995, the French drank 37 million hectolitres of wine.

The explanation seems to be threefold; economic, health-related and cultural.

The overall trend shows that people are drinking less alcohol - fewer people drink alcohol every day, while a growing number of people say that they rarely or never drink.

The health ministry's current guidance is that you should have no more than two glasses of wine per day, not exceed 10 per week and should not drink every day (a far cry from 1950 when the French were encouraged to limit their drinking to "less than one litre per meal).

Beer, with its lower alcohol content, helps people to drink less, although the Brasseurs de France say that beer is also more associated with "convivial moments" such as sports matches, when people who drink only rarely might decide to have a couple.

There are also economic reasons, with beer representing a cheaper drink offering.

But cultural factors are at play too  - Sciences Po lecturer told Les Echos: "Wine and its 75cl bottle are still associated with dining at the table, whereas people are eating at the table less often.

"What’s more, 75cl is a lot, whereas 75 percent of households consist of just two people."

The association of wine with food has also been blamed for the much steeper drop in the consumption of red wine, traditionally eaten with a meal, than white or rosé, with this drop particularly noticeable among young people.

Then there's the undeniable fact that beer has been having a bit of a moment, especially among younger French people, who enjoy 'une pinte' of craft beer. 

This was Badger this afternoon, exhausted after sleeping nearly all day.