This article delves into France's reputation as a vacation-friendly nation by examining its public holidays, specifically focusing on the May bank holiday and the political discussions surrounding ideal holiday numbers.

France has a reputation, among some, of being a vacation nation. Is this warranted? In this edition of Entre Nous, we dive into France's public holidays during the month of May. We discuss the country's infamous long weekends or "ponts", an ongoing political fight over the May 1 bank holiday and what researchers say is the ideal number of "jours fériés" or public holidays.