Very soon, le quatorze juillet (July 14), is la fête nationale française, known in many parts of the world as Bastille Day.

If you are like many francophiles, you may think this day celebrates the storming of the royal prison of la Bastille on July 14, 1789, and you’d be right, but only partly so...

Officially established as la fête nationale (the national holiday) by the French Assemblé in 1880, the festivities do indeed celebrate the storming of the Bastille as the start of the revolution, but perhaps more importantly the 14th is also the anniversary of la Fête de la Fédération (a celebration of the ideals of the French Revolution – la liberté, la fraternité, et l’égalité / liberty, brotherhood, and equality – and of the nation) during which Louis XVI himself (before, of course, famously losing his head later!) and other representatives of the young republic swore an oath to the constitution, promising to uphold the laws of the new nation.

The ceremonies of this first Fête de la Fédération were led by the Marquis de LaFayette (whom Louis XVI had named as commander of the troops in Paris after his return from supporting the American colonists in their recent bids to win independence from the other great European monarchy of the day, Great Britain) and took place on the Champs de mars  (named, not for the month of March, but for the Roman god of battle, Mars [Greek: Ares or Aries]) which is framed today by the Eiffel Tower at one end and Hôtel des Invalides at the other.

As today, the early celebrations of the 14th July involved local dances and military parades. In 1989, year of the bicentennial celebrations, I was lucky enough to spend juillet in Paris and to participate in three days of bals, defilies, feux d’artifices, and more (balls, parades, fireworks).

La nuit du 14 (the night of the 14th), we even went out to a night club after the final fireworks, danced till dawn, and then went back to the Champs-Élysées for le petit-déjeuner au levé du soleil! (breakfast at sunrise).

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Pound awaits rate decision this week.

A few major events scheduled for later this week…

We have both US and UK interest rate decisions.

These are considered high impacts events. Currencies are very sensitive to interest rate news.

Sterling managed to gain against the Euro and US Dollar on Monday (yes, it was still trading despite the UK bank holiday).

That might have surprised a few investors as the Bank of England is expected to cut rates this Thursday.

The statement accompanying its decision will also be closely watched.

Some economists are calling for quicker cuts as global growth is expected to take a hit from Trump's tariffs.

However, the jump in EU in inflation late last week may make the Bank of England more cautious though.

The US Federal Reserve is also meeting this week on Wednesday.

The Dollar has taken a beating so far in 2025. So, a few encouraging words from the Fed may go a long way. No doubt, President Trump will be watching and tweeting too.

There’s plenty going on in the world right now.

So what next, what should you do?

If you have a currency requirement, it’s always worth reaching out so we can take advantage of the increased volatility.

To speak to a member of our team, just call 01872 487 500.

Or to find out our latest rates, click below.

Get ahead of the game and read our Guide to Foreign Currency Exchange.

Download the Guide Here - with no obligation of course.

Kind regards, 
David Evans 
Co-Founder of Cle France.

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Current rates: 

Tuesday 6th May 2025 at 10:15

£1.00 GBP = 1.1755 EUR

£1.00 GBP = 1.3315 USD

£1.00 GBP = 2.0655 AUD

£1.00 GBP = 2.2285 NZD

£1.00 GBP = 1.8405 CAD

£1.00 GBP = 1.0965 CHF

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Paris is always beautiful, throughout each of the Les Quatre Saisons, no that is not just a name of a Pizza! (the four seasons.)

But people tend to say that Paris is at her best in May...

Now, wouldn’t you like to see that for yourself?

Bien sûr, you may! just join us on Twitter or Facebook today as we will be 'tweeting' some images of Paris later on.

...and to bring a little Paris culture into your day how about a song?...

Click here to view the video of...

'PARIS IS AT HER BEST IN MAY' ('J’aime Paris Au Mois De Mai')

 By Charles Aznavour & Dianne Reeves

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

May Day / La Fête du Muguet in France is a public holiday / a jour fériés to celebrate workers rights! in the UK we tend to move public holiday days to the Monday but as with most jour fériés in France they stay on the day the occur. It is also an occasion to present Muguet / Lily of the Valley or dog rose flowers to loved ones, friends and neighbours. The day is also known as La Fête du Travail which never seems to happen in the Cle France Office!

So what do people do?

People in many areas give bouquets of Muguet / Lily of the Valley or dog rose flowers, I knew a friend who would cycle around the village and surrounding villages, in a rural corner of Mayenne, giving out single stem of Muguet to all her friends and take all day doing it!

The custom is particularly common in the area around Paris known as Ile-de-France. Families with children in the rural areas get up very early in the morning and go into the woods to pick Muguet. Individuals and flower stalls in urban areas sell bouquets of Muguet / Lily of the Valley on May 1st if you don't want to go and pick some yourself. There are special regulations that allow people and some companies to sell these flowers on May 1st without paying tax or complying with retail regulations, kerching!

In industrial towns some trade unions use the day to campaign for workers rights. Some people or even large organisations also use the day to campaign for human rights in general or to demonstrate against racism or highlight current social issues. 

Jour fériés:

May 1st is a public holiday. Post offices, banks, stores and other businesses are closed, Cle France remains open in the UK. Outside of tourist areas, restaurants and cafes may be closed. However, some stores in Paris, and other major towns and cities will be open. Public transport service schedules vary depending on where you live and where you want to go to. Parades and demonstrations may cause disruption to traffic in the center of large cities, particularly Paris, Reims, Rennes and Rouen. 

Now for the History Lesson:

King Charles IX of France was presented with Muguet / Lily of the Valley flowers on May 1st 1561. He liked the gift and decided to present Muguet / Lily of the Valley flowers to the ladies of his court each year on May 1st. Around 1900, men started to present a bouquet of flowers to women to express their affection. The flowers are a more general token of appreciation between close friends and family members these days and has not bee turned into a second Valentines day.

The eight-hour working day was officially introduced in France on April 23, 1919, and May 1st became a public holiday. May Day was not observed during World War II. However, May 1st became a public holiday again in 1947 and officially became known as La Fête du Travail (Labor Day) on April 29, 1948. Since then, it has been an occasion to campaign for and celebrate workers' rights.

We know it as just goof old fashioned May Day but, of course, it is also known as Labor Day in other parts of the world.

Symbols:

Muguet / Lily of the Valley and dog rose flowers are symbols of May Day in France.

The Romance: 

Ever since its introduction from Japan to Europe in the Middle Ages (bet you did not know that!) Muguet / Lily of the Valley has been regarded as a lucky charm by the Celtic folks from many countries.

There was also an old European tradition of 'bals de muguet' or Muguet dances; once a year, this was a rare occasion for young singles to meet without having to get parents’ permission. The girls would dress in white and the boys would wear a sprig of muguet as a buttonhole, how very quaint.

From around 1900, it became traditional in France for men to present a bouquet of flowers to their sweethearts to express their love and affection. Nowadays, sadly of course, the romance has drifted out of the tradition and 'Muguet ' flowers are really only given as a general token of appreciation between close friends and family members.

Blog submitted by: Sharon at The French Property Network - Cle France.

France, just like every other country, has many holidays throughout the year.

It is best to leave the planning of your viewing trip to the experts at Cle France but if you are going to plan your trip and see multiple houses then be careful to avoid les jours fériés as these may catch you out. Estate Agents in France work so hard they are keen not to miss the opportunity of a Bank Holiday day off and making the bridge is a common practice for most business so let us explain.

With the creation of new holidays every year (such as National Doughnut Day — faites une croix dans vos calendriers [mark your calendars]! It’s June 2nd this year!), it seems that there’s something to celebrate every day. Whether you believe in celebrating doughnuts or not (and let’s be honest, you should as you only live once!), there are certain holidays that are nationally recognised.

Image courtesy of Eric Rocheblave.

These holidays, called les jours fériés, are public holidays, and public servants, employees in the public sector, and students generally have the day off!

This year, France has 13 public holidays. Can you name them? Answers are at the bottom of the post!

Of those 13, 5 take place in May. That’s a lot of days off! That’s almost 40% of days off in one month. Do you know the expression faire le pont? It literally means “to make the bridge,” but it refers to the idea of going from one end of something to another more than actually making a bridge. What it means is to make a long weekend. If a holidays falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, the French “make a bridge” to the next week.

For example, if the holiday is on Thursday, it doesn’t make much sense to come to work Wednesday, have off Thursday, return to work Friday, then have the weekend off. So what they do is have off Thursday AND Friday, plus the weekend. A four-day weekend! They font le pont from Thursday to Monday.

So what are the holidays this month? Let’s take a look!

Le 1er mai – La Fête du Travail – Labor Day

This holiday is sometimes called La Fête du Muguet. Le Muguet (lily of the valley) is picked and given to loved ones. Don’t want to pick any, or don’t have access to a field ? Don’t worry – there are stands on the road where you can purchase them. There are even regulations that allow organizations to grow and sell these flowers without taxes.

In the streets, you’ll see parades celebrating workers rights.

Le 8 mai – La Fête de la Victoire / le Jour de la Libération – Victory Day

This holiday is to celebrate the end of the Second World War and freedom. Freedom’s not just an American value :-p On this day in 1945, Charles de Gaulle announced the end of the war.

Many people attend church services on this day, and they watch the parades after. The atmosphere is generally quite happy.

Le 9 mai – Ascension

This is the 40th day of Easter and marks the day that Jesus Christ ascended to heaven after being crucified.

Some Christians attend special church services, but most people don’t do anything specifically related to the holiday. Since it’s a four-day weekend, many people may take a mini vacation.

Le 08 jun – Pentecôte – Pentecost Sunday or Whit Sunday

This is another religious holiday in May. Since it’s on a Sunday, the fact that everything is closed is nothing new. Some Christians will attend church services. Traditionally, trumpets will be blown during the service. This represents the wind that blew when the spirit descended into Jesus’s followers.

For many others, it’s just like any other weekend, except they don’t have to go to work the next day.

Le 09 jun – Lundi de Pentecôte – Pentecost Monday or Whit Monday

This day follows Pentecost Sunday. Much like the previous day, not a lot is done anymore. In fact, the French government decided to remove it from their list of national holidays around 10 years ago.  It was reinstated again after the death of many elders during a heatwave. The new holiday, called the Day of Solidarity, is to bring awareness to elderly people with disabilities. Some people do work on this day for no wages, and their money is donated to organisations. Not everyone does this, though.

Happy Holidays!

1. Jour de L’an (1er janvier)

2. Pâques (le 20 avril)

3. Lundi de Pâques (le 21 avril)

4. Fête du Travail (1er mai)

5. Fête de la Victoire 1945 (le 8 mai)

6. Ascension catholique (le 9 mai)

7. Pentecôte (le 08 jun)

8. Lundi de Pentecôte (le 09 jun)

9. Fête nationale (le 14 juillet)

10. Assomption (le 15 aout)

11. Toussaint (le 1er novembre)

12. Armistice 1989 (le 11 novembre)

13. Noël (le 25 décembre)

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.