John H Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 We are travelling to France on the 21st May and I have just found out that it is Ascension Day in over there. Our first port of call is usually Auchan in Calais to stock up with nice French stuff. Does anyone know if Auchan will be closed that day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puzzled Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Yes they will as will most of France be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John H Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 Thanks Liam, I thought that may be the case but I was hoping it wasn't >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 You may find that a lot of the French Supermarkets are open un til 12 noon on that day. Tomorrow, Friday, is a Bank Holiday and most are closed and then next Friday the 8th most of them are open. Just found this: http://www.auchan.fr/magasin/accueil/accueil.jsp?idPageMagasin=-1# It gives all the closed branches for Auchan but only for 1st May but if you try it after the 8th May you should get the closures for the 21st May. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ina Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Also on Monday 1 June it is Whitsun, which in Holland is also a bank holiday, not sure about France though. Ina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John H Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 Thanks for the link Sylvia/Martin, I will check it out a bit closer to the date. I sent them a message on their website yesterday to ask them if they were open on the 21st May but I think Marie-Louise must have mis-read it because she told me they were open on the 1st May from 09:00 to 20:00. Thanks Ina. We are coming back on the 3rd of June so I think we will stay wherever we are on the 1st. How come they get so many public holidays anyway? All we need now is for the bl**dy Fishermen to start playing up again. They were at it last year when we went, moaning about the cost of Diesel and with Operation Stack on the M20, I had about 2 hours sleep on a car park because we couldn't get down to Marine Parade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Madge Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 For those interested in planning ahead here are the public holidays in France for the 2009/10. http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/92/public_holidays/Europe/France.html Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Don Madge - 2009-04-30 10:14 PM For those interested in planning ahead here are the public holidays in France for the 2009/10. http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/92/public_holidays/Europe/France.html Don The problem with publishing Public Holidays is that there is no guarantee that shops will be closed or open on that particular day. Our calendar shows all the Fete de Jours (Public Holidays) in red but that doesn't guarantee that our local Intermarche Supermarket is closed, in fact on most of them are open in the morning only, except today of course as everybody is closed it being Workers Day. It is only the Boulangerie that are open 365 days a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Do they still have that trick of closing the day BEFORE a Fete Nat as well? Although this related to a bank, not a supermarket: I don't use banks much nowadays when I'm abroad, as the magic plastic does the work, but I remember in the 70s finding the banks shut on the day before Bastille Day. Asking a bystander, the only answer I got was "Because tomorrow is a public holiday!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Madge Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Tony Jones - 2009-05-01 10:41 AM Do they still have that trick of closing the day BEFORE a Fete Nat as well? Although this related to a bank, not a supermarket: I don't use banks much nowadays when I'm abroad, as the magic plastic does the work, but I remember in the 70s finding the banks shut on the day before Bastille Day. Asking a bystander, the only answer I got was "Because tomorrow is a public holiday!" Hi Tony, If a public holiday is say on a Tuesday the French often take the Monday off, they use to call it "bridging the gap". But that was many moons ago so I don't know if they still do it. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 There are still a lot of places in France that close normally on a Monday, I think it depends on the area. For instance, where we live, the Bank is open Monday but closed Thursday afternoon as Monday is when the Market is on in the town and a lot of the shops close on Tuesday. The Market is on whatever the Monday is, whether it is a Bank Holiday or not. It takes a long time to get to grips with opening and closing hours and days, even after 10 years it still surprises us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Hi John, I don't know what time you are going over or which direction you will be heading off but we usually make our first stop, if City Europe shops will be shut, Auchan at St Martin Bologne, junction 31 off the A16 - non toll part and about 20 minutes from the tunnel. You can stay FOC in their car park (the bus area if too long to fit in a car space) over night and although the shops open at 08.30 the doors (giving access to their excellent loos) are usually open at 08.00. (This site is in the French Aires book) We were there last weekend and an added advantage is their fuel price! The service station just before this junction charges 1.104 euros per litre for diesel. At the Auchan site it is 92.8 cents ! The garage area also has facilities to dispose of grey water so great at the end of a trip too. Enjoy your trip, we did. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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