Day 3272 (Sunday) 24th May 2026

This is the seafront in Villefranche-sur-Mer

and this is Menton. 

It was another hot day and we sunbathed for a few hours,  it’s actually quite hot now and I’m loving it. The passengers on this cruise ship had a beautiful day to visit Villefranche.

It’s another bank holiday weekend because it’s Pentecost, for a secular country the celebrate lots of religious holidays.

Pentecost: The French public holiday when many work for free

Some shops and offices will be closed on Monday. Photo: AFP

Pentecost is a public holiday in France, but not everyone gets the day off. Instead some people will be given the attractive option of working as usual but without being paid.

What is the public holiday?

Despite being a secular state fiercely proud of its tradition of laïcité, there are several religious holidays in France which are also public holidays - Christmas and Easter plus Ascension Day in May, Assumption in August, All Saints Day in November and Pentecost.

Pentecost marks the day in the Christian calendar when the Holy Spirit descended to the Apostles after the crucifixion of Jesus. It is celebrated seven weeks after Easter, so the date moves from year to year depending on when Easter falls.

And people in France get the day off?

Some do, some don't.

The day is a public holiday in the official state calendar, but while some people get a day off work, others go in as normal, except they aren't paid.

Wait, what?

It's because of Solidarity Day. This was introduced in 2005 and the idea was that all wages from that day would be handed over to a government fund, which would be spent on extra care, support and services for the elderly.

It was introduced after the heatwave of 2003, when more than 15,000 French people, most of them elderly, died in the sweltering temperatures.

That sounds like a nice idea.

Well maybe, but it's become rather a mess in recent years, and now nobody really knows what the situation is.

In 2005 when the idea was introduced the Pentecost holiday was scrapped and everyone worked as normal and handed over their wages. But many felt that the idea was simply a PR stunt, and questioned where exactly their donated wages - estimated to add up to around €2.3 billion - were spent.

After three years of public anger the idea was scrapped and in 2008 Pentecost went back to simply being a holiday.

So now no one works?

Well that's where the confusion comes in because some companies are still doing Solidarity Day, some are doing a modified version of Solidarity Day, and some are offering a day off.

Civil servants, post office workers and those who work in banks get the day off, so all public offices and banks will be closed on Monday.

Most larger shops stay open but independent retailers may close (if they are open on a Monday anyway, smaller shops and restaurants or cafés often closed on Mondays), while services like public transport continue to operate as normal.

At some companies, the workers have negotiated their own deal with the boss - for example at SNCF the workers struck a deal that said they would work an extra one minute and 52 seconds every other day of the year and in exchange they would get Pentecost off. And some firms offer employees a choice of either working the day without pay, or taking the day off but using up a day of their annual leave to do so.

Like we said, it's complicated, so the best thing is probably to check with your boss.

Here at The Local we've decided to give ourselves the day off and help the elderly in our own time.

Traffic jams and sunshine: What to expect in France over Pentecost weekend

Many French people will aim for a short getaway over the holiday weekend. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

The last of May’s long weekends kicks off on Friday - here’s what you can expect on the roads, and from the late spring weather over the Pentecost weekend.

Monday is Pentecost, the last jour férié of a holiday-heavy May – and the last before the Fête nationale on July 14th. Plenty of people plan to make the most of it, with the weather set to be very hot.

Phew, what a scorcher

A ‘heat dome’ settled over France on Thursday, which will cause temperatures to spike between 10C and 15C above seasonal norms, according to forecasters at Météo France.

On Thursday, temperatures in the southwestern Nouvelle Aquitaine and Occitanie regions broke through the 30C mark, and could reach as high as 35C over the long weekend.

Saturday afternoon's weather map. Image: Météo France

Anticyclonic conditions are expected to persist over the holiday period, bringing mostly sunny, warm, and even very hot weather to most of the country, with temperatures reaching 30C in the north. 

Minimum temperatures will also continue to rise. Sunday night into Monday is expected to be particularly mild in the west of the country, especially along the Atlantic coast, where the mercury may not fall much below 20C. 

The peak of the early summer heatwave is expected in the first part of next week, between Monday and Wednesday. Nationwide, the average temperature will likely exceed 24C, a record for the month.

Roads watch

Friday is the big travel day for the long weekend with many expected to make an early getaway, roads watchdog Bison Futé forecasts.

It has issued a nationwide red travel alert – indicating very difficult conditions on the roads – for Friday for travel away from major cities and in the direction of popular resorts, and a yellow alert, indicating difficult road conditions, heading towards major cities.

Image: Bison Futé

Heavy traffic is expected on all major highways, until late in the evening, notably on routes to the Atlantic coast, Normandy, Brittany, and the Pays de la Loire, the northeastern borders, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and the Mediterranean coast. 

From mid-afternoon in the Île-de-France region, increased traffic on the A10 and A6, later combining with the evening commute, could lead to persistent traffic difficulties until late in the evening.