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Showing posts from July, 2015

Ready, Set, Summer! : What to Expect During the Summer Vacation Period in France

a beach on the Mediterranean coast This post is going to be primarily informative about the quirks of summer vacation in France, including the common dates, weather, and other relevant details. First, a little lexique: Language: canicule -extended heat wave bison futé - the 'smart bison' path for car travel, which basically alerts you to the severity of traffic jams in different areas using colors as an indicator (black = heavy traffic jams, green = free flowing traffic) bouchon - traffic jam (also the work for 'cork' as in a wine cork) juilletiste/aoûtien - Julyists and Augustists, words French people can use to describe those who go on vacation in July, and those who prefer to go in August Dates: The first thing you need to know about France: since the school system is centralized, summer vacation is between July and August, in June school is still in session. The start of the vacation season is literally at the end of the school ye