French summers are sacred and a time to decompress from the daily routine to enjoy a slower rhythm filled with invigorating sea air, warm water, and sun. Days are longer, meals are lighter, rest and relaxation are on the agenda. It’s time to explore, faire bronzette, do nothing, faire la sieste sous les cocotiers, time for families and friends to reconnect and enjoy life. The French summer is not a season; it is a philosophy, a celebration of flânerie, lengthy apéritifs, and a deeply ingrained art de bien vivre. Vive les vacances !
French lifestyle honors life and work balance and during their 35-hour workweek, for the most part, the French submit to the “métro, boulot, dodo” or daily grind rhythm. The French work schedule from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM or 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM includes the, déjeuner or unpaid lunch hour. A workday is about seven hours, and should an employee exceed 35 hours, the additional hours are considered overtime; however, come the summer and in particular the month of August, most of the French population is already off on their 5 weeks of paid leave (PTO) or “congés payés” which adds up to about 30 days of paid vacation per year!
Planning vacation time is a serious and sacred business in France and makes work life more bearable with something to look forward to. Everything, well almost, revolves around the upcoming vacation! The boundaries between work and personal time are very clearly defined and rest, or le repos, is a big part of working life highly regarded as a time to rest and recharge batteries to avoid burnout. The popular adage is very true: “In France, we work to live; we don’t live to work.”
Here’s a nostalgic 80s classic French song by Gérard Lenorman, remastered in 2003, which exemplifies the meaning of Vive les vacances !
Below are some related popular blog posts to help you create and enjoy the French summer experience and art de vivre, or the Art of living during les grandes vacances d’été. In the summer, the French love to eat outdoors on the terrace under their parasol, or have picnics in the country or at the beach, play Pétanque under the shaded trees, and enjoy their apéro sipping on their favorite Rosé de Provence or Ricard Pastis along with tapenade, olives, and charcuterie. I can hear the song of the cicadas, or les cigales, and smell the lavender fields from here!
The French vacanciers who take off during the month of July are known as “les juilletistes” and during August as “les aoûtiens“, causing major cities to quiet down as locals migrate to coastal towns or the countryside. So, during these two months known as les grandes vacances, but especially in August, you will most likely hear crickets while the French are away enjoying their vacation break, and won’t be back until September when back to school and back to business resumes also known as the traditional:La rentrée !
So until then, enjoy, and again, Vive les vacances!
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