https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed From the perspective of French public holidays, 2021 is a bad year - here's why. https://www.thelocal.fr/20201113/the-french-holiday-calendar-for-2021 Fri, 13 Nov 2020 11:05:47 +0100 the-french-holiday-calendar-for-2021 Holiday bookings in the UK surged after the British government announced its lockdown exit plan on Monday -but travellers planning a trip to France should take into account the current restrictions first. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210225/reminder-what-you-should-know-before-booking-a-trip-to-france-from-the-uk Thu, 25 Feb 2021 14:22:32 +0100 reminder-what-you-should-know-before-booking-a-trip-to-france-from-the-uk The low-cost British airline Jet2 has announced it will begin operating new services between the UK and southern France, starting in the summer of 2022. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210225/new-flights-to-south-of-france-launched-by-jet2 Thu, 25 Feb 2021 12:15:18 +0100 new-flights-to-south-of-france-launched-by-jet2 France can look forward to a great year for public holidays in 2018. Although not all of them will bring a day off. https://www.thelocal.fr/20171221/how-to-make-the-most-of-frances-2018-public-holiday-calendar Thu, 21 Dec 2017 14:33:42 +0100 how-to-make-the-most-of-frances-2018-public-holiday-calendar French primary school pupils would benefit from fewer holidays, says the author of an OECD report, but is France ready to chop its sacrosanct summer break? https://www.thelocal.fr/20160920/is-it-time-for-france-to-cut-the-school-holidays Tue, 20 Sep 2016 18:32:43 +0200 is-it-time-for-france-to-cut-the-school-holidays It promises to be a hot weekend on roads around France and not just because of the heatwave. With the summer holidays about to start, warnings have been issued to motorists. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150703/france-summer-holidays-to-spark-travel-warnings Fri, 03 Jul 2015 18:30:53 +0200 france-summer-holidays-to-spark-travel-warnings The head of France’s leading employers' association has once again risked the wrath of the country's workers by claiming they don’t work hard enough. His provocative statement comes after his group called for a cut in the number of public holidays. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140925/france-work-jobs-hour-medef Thu, 25 Sep 2014 20:07:00 +0200 france-work-jobs-hour-medef Summer holidays are sacred in France and even more so it seems for French teachers. One union has called for a strike after the government did the unthinkable and timetabled the start of the autumn term before the end of August. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140206/french-teachers-to-strike-over-august-work Thu, 06 Feb 2014 18:53:00 +0100 french-teachers-to-strike-over-august-work How far would you go to get extra days off? Two French railway agents at a station near Paris were willing to go further than most it seems when they paid two youths to give them a beating. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140107/french-workers-stage-beating-for-extra Tue, 07 Jan 2014 14:29:00 +0100 french-workers-stage-beating-for-extra Workers in France are granted more paid holidays than anywhere else in the world, but they want more it seems. According to a new study by travel site Expedia, the French feel feel more “holiday-deprived” than any other nationality. https://www.thelocal.fr/20131119/french-get-most-holidays-but-feel-holiday-deprived Tue, 19 Nov 2013 13:25:00 +0100 french-get-most-holidays-but-feel-holiday-deprived Are you returning from your ‘grandes vacances’ this weekend? You’re not the only one. As motorists head homeward for the dreaded rentrée, heavy congestion is expected on the country’s motorways. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130830/france-braces-for-returning-holiday-traffic Fri, 30 Aug 2013 11:43:00 +0200 france-braces-for-returning-holiday-traffic Roads in the Paris region are set to be chock-a-block this weekend, as the summer’s first wave of holiday-makers head for the sun in south of France. Traffic on major routes throughout the country is also set to be heavy. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130705/school-holidays-bring-heavy-traffic-across-france Fri, 05 Jul 2013 19:25:00 +0200 school-holidays-bring-heavy-traffic-across-france Anyone stuck in a big city this summer, suffering through the heat and smog, should check out this year's Pavillon Bleu map, published on Friday. The interactive map (below) helps users find France's cleanest and greenest beaches. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130607/french-eco-beaches-offer-pollution-free-holidays Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:58:00 +0200 french-eco-beaches-offer-pollution-free-holidays As French workers get ready to enjoy two public holidays this week, questions have been raised over the heavy cost to the economy of the enforced days off. But union leaders insist they must remain to maintain France's work-life balance. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130507/french-workers-need-their-public-holidays Tue, 07 May 2013 21:31:00 +0200 french-workers-need-their-public-holidays The healthy number of annual public holidays in France might mean good news for French workers but it is certainly not positive for the country’s economy, with a report claiming the days off will cost €2 billion euros this year alone. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130507/public-holidays-to-cost-france-2-billion-in-2013 Tue, 07 May 2013 11:43:00 +0200 public-holidays-to-cost-france-2-billion-in-2013 It could soon get a lot easier for people living in London to escape the rain and head to sunny Provence, with Eurostar rail service announcing on Wednesday it was expanding its service from London to the south of France on a trial basis. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130424/eurostar-set-for-trial-run-to-south-of-france Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:43:00 +0200 eurostar-set-for-trial-run-to-south-of-france As France looks set to break with tradition and say au revoir to their previously sacrosanct two month-long school summer holidays, The Local takes a look at some other areas of traditional Gallic culture facing the threat of the guillotine. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130228/top-ten-french-culture-under-threat Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:02:00 +0100 top-ten-french-culture-under-threat France’s Education Minister Vincent Peillon has once again incurred the wrath of teaching unions, this time by stating his intention to cut the country's sacrosanct school summer holidays to six weeks by 2017. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130225/cut-summer-holidays-to-6-weeks-education-minister Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:55:00 +0100 cut-summer-holidays-to-6-weeks-education-minister A suspected serial rapist is preying on young girls holidaying on campsites in the Ardèche region of central France, local police said Friday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20120810/serial-rapist-preying-on-girls-at-french-campsites Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:53:29 +0200 serial-rapist-preying-on-girls-at-french-campsites A 34-year-old Londoner has been plucked to safety on the French Atlantic coast after making an impromptu bid to swim across the Atlantic to New York. https://www.thelocal.fr/20120730/british-rescued-trying-to-swim-to-america Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:07:00 +0200 british-rescued-trying-to-swim-to-america