14th July Bastille Day - a public holiday in France

14th July 2008 - French National Holiday

The majority of shops are shut and transport is limited. The Old Town is very much open though and a few supermarkets are open for the morning only. I remember this time last year spendng the day on Opera Plage. Over the last few years, Sunday morning opening during the summer for the supermarkets is becoming more commonplace. This summer, Monoprix in Place Garibaldi will be open all day Sunday.

The Promenade des Anglais is closed for a Parade later on and it's lovely and quiet to walk along. There will be fireworks over the sea at 10pm and a free open air 'Ball' in the Albert 1er Gardens from 9pm, for 3 hours, stopping briefly at 10pm for the firework display. I gleaned most of this from the local paper Nice Matin whose main story is the birth of twins to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at Lenval Hospital the far end of the Prom.

We are still having difficulty finding a reliable source of the Times - ended up at the Kiosk on the far side of Albert 1er, by the Meridien Hotel today. Came home for lunch and it has unexpectedly clouded over and the temp dropped a bit.

Off to see friends in Juan Les Pins tomorrow and will spend the day on the beach with them. This year, we have been going late to the public beach after 4pm and have found the heat and sun much more bearable at this time. We flop about for an hour or two then come home.


Yesterday, the surf was up in the morning becoming quite rough by late afternoon, no chance of swimming, here are a couple of photos, showing morning and afternoon. Both taken from about the same place - overlooking Castel Plage by the Chateau Hill:



surf up a little in the morning, photo taken overlooking Castel Plage, 13.7.08















Surf increased by late afternoon, 13.7.08















30 second video of the surf by Castel Plage

The cost of using the private beaches would be very expensive for the three of us. Castel Plage charge 14 euros plus five euros for a parasol, another 5 for a towel and the cheapest bottle of wine is 18 euros. As with all the private beaches, taking your own food is not allowed.

French National Public Holiday 2008:

1 January New Year's Day/Nouvel An (Tuesday)
23 March Easter Sunday/Paques
24 March Easter Monday/Lundi de Paques
1 May Labour Day/Fête du Travail (Thursday)
1 May Ascension Day (Thursday)
8 May WWII Victory Day/Fête de la Victoire 1945 (Thursday)
11 May Pentecost (Sunday)
12 May Pentecost Monday (reinstated for 2008)
14 July Bastille Day, France's national holiday (Monday)
15 August Assumption Day (Friday)
1 November All Saints' Day/Toussaint (Saturday)
11 November Armistice Day 1918 (Tuesday)
25 December Christmas Day/Noël (Thursday)

Information courtesy of angloinfo.com