This week in France: what to know from Nov 9 to Nov 15

France starts the week of Monday, Nov. 9 with a public holiday in the middle of the week and a batch of evening and daytime closures on the Paris rail network. Visitors who plan around Wednesday, Nov. 11 and check their line before leaving can avoid most of the trouble.

Later in the week come the first Christmas markets, a possible turn to wetter weather and a few money deadlines that mostly matter to people living in France. Here is what to expect, day by day, with the official websites to check.

Is Wednesday, Nov. 11 a public holiday in France?

Yes. Nov. 11 marks the 1918 Armistice, which ended the fighting against Germany in World War I, and it is a public holiday nationwide. Since 2012, the day has also honored everyone who died for France in any conflict, according to iCalendrier.

The defense ministry organizes the national commemoration. By tradition, France observes two minutes of silence at 11 a.m., the hour the armistice took effect, and pays homage to the Unknown Soldier, buried beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The flame on that tomb was first lit on Nov. 11, 1923, and has been rekindled every evening at 6:30 p.m. since then.

For sightseeing, Sortiraparis lists several Paris venues as closed that day: the Petit Palais, the Centre Pompidou, the Nissim de Camondo museum, the Yves Saint Laurent museum and the Museum of Hunting and Nature. The Arc de Triomphe is shut in the morning for the ceremony, and the national Navy museum (Musée national de la Marine) is closed for the Paris Peace Forum.

Most other museums and monuments stay open, and the Louvre is not on the closed list. Holiday hours can change, so confirm on each venue’s own website, including louvre.fr, before you go.

Many shops, banks and public offices close on French public holidays, so check opening hours ahead of time if you need one.

Which Paris metro, RER and Transilien lines are disrupted from Nov. 9 to 15?

Public transport in the Paris region is run mainly by the RATP, the Paris transit operator, and the SNCF, France’s national railway. The RER (Réseau express régional) is a set of express lines that cross Paris and run out to the suburbs, while Transilien is the SNCF commuter rail network for the region.

The weekly transport page that Sortiraparis updated on Wednesday, Nov. 4 lists the following works:

• Metro line 7bis: closed all day from Monday, Nov. 9 to Friday, Nov. 13, with replacement buses.
• RER A: no trains after 10 p.m. from Nov. 9 to 13 between Nanterre-Préfecture and Cergy-le-Haut, and on the branch toward Poissy.
• RER B: on weeknights through Tuesday, Nov. 10, no trains after 10:45 p.m. between Châtelet-Les Halles and the northern branches to Mitry-Claye and Charles de Gaulle Airport 2 TGV.
• Transilien line H: no trains after 11:35 p.m. between Ermont-Eaubonne and Persan-Beaumont, through Friday, Nov. 13.
• Transilien line U: no weekday trains after 8:20 p.m. between La Défense and La Verrière, until Friday, Dec. 4.
• RER D: adjusted timetables along the whole line until Thursday, Dec. 31.
• Skipped stations: Saint-Michel on line 4 until Saturday, Dec. 19, and République on line 8 until April 22, 2027.

Late-night travelers heading to Charles de Gaulle Airport on Monday or Tuesday should plan another way to get there.

Metro line 6 was closed all day on Sunday, Nov. 8, just before the week begins. The outlet also names Sunday, Nov. 15 as the next morning without metro service. Before you travel, check ratp.fr and the RATP, Transilien and SNCF apps, which carry the latest changes.

Is a transport strike planned in France this week?

As of Friday, Nov. 6, no national strike notice had been found for SNCF trains, the Paris metro or air traffic control for Nov. 9 to 15. The nationwide strike on Thursday, Nov. 5 is over, after closing landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, as covered in our French-language report on the Eiffel Tower and Louvre during the strike.

New notices can appear at short notice, so check again before any train trip or flight.

The same Paris guide reported Yellow Vests (gilets jaunes) protests called for Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7, including a 2 p.m. rally at Place de la Concorde on Saturday. Metro stations near a protest can be closed with little warning.

What changes for gas, diesel and taxes in France in November?

This section mostly concerns residents. The reference gas price set by the CRE (Commission de régulation de l’énergie, the French energy regulator) rose 6.6% on Sunday, Nov. 1, from €182.88 to €194.90 per megawatt-hour including taxes, Wizbii reported, citing the regulator.

Households whose gas offer is indexed to that price should pay about €12 more on the November bill, roughly $14. Fixed-price contracts are not directly affected.

Diesel is going the other way. Decree no. 2026-981 of Oct. 23 requires fuel distributors to pass on a discount funded by releasing strategic stocks, starting Nov. 1 and in full by March 31, 2027. The decree sets no amount, but the government had estimated the cut at 12 to 18 cents per liter.

Diesel averaged €2.389 per liter on Friday, Oct. 30, about 27 cents more than E10 unleaded, according to Selectra, which worked from government price data. That is roughly $10 a gallon.

TotalEnergies has announced diesel at €2.15 per liter at its Access-brand stations. Prices vary from one station to the next, so compare the price at the pump.

Monday, Nov. 30 is the last day to correct a 2025 income tax return online at impots.gouv.fr, the French tax office website. MoneyVox reported that Monday, Nov. 16 is the deadline to pay the IFI (impôt sur la fortune immobilière, a wealth tax on real estate) by any method other than online, and online payment is accepted until midnight on Saturday, Nov. 21.

The same report lists an 11th monthly payment of local taxes on Nov. 16 for some taxpayers whose bills went up. Income tax balances above €300 (about $345) are taken in installments, with the third one due on Wednesday, Nov. 25. For background, see our French-language guide on what the French tax office knows about your income.

One more rule takes effect on Friday, Nov. 20, a week before Black Friday on Nov. 27. Buy-now-pay-later offers, such as three payments with no fees, and loans under €200 (about $230) will fall under consumer-credit rules. Lenders will have to check that borrowers can repay, and borrowers will get 14 days to withdraw.

When do the Paris Christmas markets and lights open in 2026?

The holiday season starts in the middle of the week, according to the Paris guide’s November listings. Organizers can still move dates, so confirm with each one before you go.

• Thursday, Nov. 12: Galeries Lafayette Haussmann unveils its Christmas windows and giant tree.
• Thursday, Nov. 12: the La Défense Christmas market opens, with a concert on Friday, Nov. 13, and runs through Dec. 31.
• Saturday, Nov. 14: the Tuileries Garden market opens and stays until Jan. 3, 2027.
• Saturday, Nov. 14: the Odyssée Lumineuse light trail lights up the Parc Floral through Jan. 24, 2027.
• Saturday, Nov. 14: Grand Noël begins at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, southeast of Paris.
• Nov. 14 to 22: a free urban-art festival at La Poste du Louvre.

The Louvre’s photography exhibition runs from Nov. 4, 2026 to May 3, 2027. Beaujolais Nouveau, the year’s first wine from the Beaujolais region, is released on Thursday, Nov. 19.

Will the weather turn wet in France around Nov. 11?

Possibly. In a bulletin published Tuesday, Nov. 3, the private forecaster Météo Villes said a low-pressure system could end the dry, high-pressure spell around Nov. 11, bringing above-normal rain to many regions, with the southeast most exposed.

Windy weather is possible, but the forecaster was not expecting a storm. It described a colder turn later in the month only as a possibility, and weather models still disagree.

Météo-France, the national weather service, publishes its official yellow, orange and red warnings on a vigilance map. Check vigilance.meteofrance.fr before a long drive or a hike.

What do non-EU travelers need at the French border right now?

Most non-EU visitors no longer get their passports stamped. The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), which records travelers’ biometric data digitally, has been fully operational across the Schengen area since April 2026. Euronews reported in July that queues had built up at about 20 trouble spots.

ETIAS, a €20 (about $23) travel authorization for visa-exempt visitors that stays valid for three years, still has no confirmed start date. The EU’s official site gives the fourth quarter of 2026, but Euronews, citing the Financial Times, reported that the launch is likely to slip to 2027.

What should be on your France checklist for Nov. 9 to 15?

• Mon., Nov. 9 to Fri., Nov. 13: metro line 7bis closed, plus late-evening cuts on RER A and Transilien H. Check ratp.fr.
• Tue., Nov. 10: last night of late RER B cuts toward Charles de Gaulle Airport.
• Wed., Nov. 11: public holiday, morning ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, some museums closed.
• Thu., Nov. 12 and Sat., Nov. 14: Paris Christmas markets and light shows open.
• From around Nov. 11: rain possible in many regions, watch vigilance.meteofrance.fr.
• Mon., Nov. 16 and Sat., Nov. 21: IFI payment deadlines on impots.gouv.fr.
• Fri., Nov. 20: new consumer-credit rules, explained on service-public.fr.
• Before flying in from outside the EU: entry rules on travel-europe.europa.eu.

The following week brings the IFI deadlines on Nov. 16 and 21, Beaujolais Nouveau on Thursday, Nov. 19 and the new credit rules on Friday, Nov. 20.

How we work · Report an error