Are shops (grocery, etc.) open on this day? Special happenings?
Posted by
New York, NY
1582 posts
May 8 marks the end of WW2 - It is not celebrated much anymore except in some schools and government buildings. Business will be as usual. Paris has enough stores open all the time for Parisians and tourists alike.
Posted by
OP
California
492 posts
Thank you. We will only be in Paris for a couple of days, so I am hoping that places like Monoprix and traiteurs are open.
Posted by
3122 posts
We were there on May 8 a couple of years ago. It really wasn't treated as a holiday, except we encountered a highway checkpoint (possibly checking for DUI).
Posted by
Loire Valley
763 posts
Most major shops will be open until midday (or 1pm if they open at 9). May 8th is actually quite a big day in France. There will be parades and memorial services everywhere.
Posted by
Paris
9601 posts
My Monoprix is open all day.
The big event in Paris is the ceremony with the flame at the Arc de Triomphe. The government has spent €1.1 million to get the Arc ready for tomorrow’s ceremony from the depredations visited upon it by the Gilets Jaunes in early December, according to press reporting this week.