EGIDE
Student's guide > Public holidays
France has 11 public holidays that correspond to religious holidays or to historical dates.
Government offices and private companies are closed as well as most businesses.
Police stations and hospitals remain open.
January 1st: First day of the year. 
Easter Monday (March or April depending on the year). Religious holiday
May 1st: Labor Day.
May 8th: WWII Armistice Day in 1945.
Ascension Thursday (in May or June): Religious holiday
July 14th: National holiday (anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14,
1789, symbolic date of the beginning of the French Revolution).
August 15th: Assumption day, religious holiday
November 1st: All saints day, religious holiday
November 11th: WWI Armistice Day in 1918
December 25th: Christmas day, religious holiday