I'll be returning to Paris May 2016 and again spending Labour Day there. Last year it seemed that everything other than local restaurants and a few shops were closed so no access to museums or other sites. Does anyone have suggestions of what is open or, where one can go (including a day trip) other than visiting the parks or cemeteries?
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15784 posts
May 1 was the last day of my 2-week stay there this year and it was raining for part of it. I had a lazy morning, walked a lot, enjoying the scent of my sprig of muguet (lily of the valley), and taking photos. I went to a 5 p.m. concert at Saint-Germain-des-Pres church.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
I was in Paris on May 1st one year and just about everything was closed. There is one museum open 365 days a year, though, and I am pretty sure it is the Nissim Camondo. You could always take a day trip to Dijon and explore there a bit, or the basilica at St Denis.
Posted by
Chicago
8552 posts
It isn't a great day for day tripping either as May 1 is one of the 3 most reliably buttoned up days of the year in France. Small towns will be ghost towns. You are better off in Paris and planning to take neighborhood walks -- or if you day trip to choose destinations for walking. e.g. you could take a picnic and head for Conflans Sainte Honorine and then walk along the Seine to Poissy. Lots of places to picnic and it is beautiful and an easy walk. Leaving Conflans, you cross the Oise (it is at the confluence of Seine and Oise) on a bridge and head left back to the riverside and then have clear trains and paths along the river for the entire destination. There will be lots of families probably making the hike that day.
There are many similar options.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10623 posts
You can see the May 1st parade. The route is usually Nation to Bastille or Bastille to Nation.
Posted by
OP
BC Canada
129 posts
Thank you - great suggestions!