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TOURISM

Five suggestions for places to visit over the Easter weekend in France

With a long weekend on the horizon, you might be planning a trip. Here are our suggestions for places to visit over the Easter weekend.

Published: 6 April 2023 12:01 CEST
Updated: 8 April 2023 13:21 CEST
Five suggestions for places to visit over the Easter weekend in France
Members of the Giant Omelette Brotherhood of Bessieres cook a giant omelette as part of Easter celebrations on the main square of Bessieres, southern France. (Photo by REMY GABALDA / AFP)

Visit Provins for a medieval egg hunt

Provins is a town not far from Paris, to the north. Known for its impressive medieval architecture and high ramparts, the village was once a major trading hub. 

These days, it is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is particularly worth visiting during Easter because the town organises a historical Easter egg hunt, where each child is given a map and several riddles to search for chocolate eggs across town. Children up to 12 years old can participate.

No booking is necessary, but the Provins Tourist Office advises arriving by 2pm to have enough time to participate in all of the festivities. The hunt will take place on Sunday, April 9th and Monday, April 10th from 2pm to 5pm. You can find more information HERE.

Enjoy a gigantic Easter omelette in Bessières

A tradition that goes back to Napoleonic times, thousands of locals turn out in the south western French village of Bessières to have a taste of the annual giant Easter omelette. If you are a fan of an egg-heavy Easter brunch, then this might be the location for you.

For the last 43 years, every Easter Monday, Bessières has cracked 15,000 eggs to prepare a giant omelette in honour of the holiday. 

Dozens of volunteers are required, along with several kilos of duck fat and a fair amount of salt, pepper and the local piment d’Espelette pepper to the giant pot, which measures up to four metres in diameter. It typically takes about 30 to 40 minutes for the omelette to cook, and once finished it is distributed amongst the thousands of visitors who flock to Bessières to enjoy the festival.

The tradition reportedly stems from Napoleon’s visit to the town where he ate a wonderful omelette before bed, which was so nice, he ordered a huge one be made for his army to eat before they left the next morning.

Shop the Easter markets in eastern France

Alsace is known primarily for its winter Christmas markets, namely those in Strasbourg and Colmar, but if you could not attend the marchés de noël you have another opportunity. Several towns and villages across the region offer Easter, or spring markets, too.

Colmar’s spring market surrounds its charming 14th century church, offering plenty of authentic Alsatian products. During Easter weekend, chocolate bunnies, eggs and the traditional “Lamala” cake (made in a lamb-shaped mould) will be sold at stands. You can learn more HERE.

If you visit eastern France over Easter, you may also notice that compared with the rest of France, most people are off work on Good Friday. 

READ MORE: Why is Good Friday not a holiday in (most of) France?

The ‘grand’ Easter egg hunt at La Rochelle 

For those looking to enjoy Easter weekend near the beach, La Rochelle is a great option.

The city also offers a ‘grand chasse aux œufs‘ for any children who want to participate. Starting at 2:30pm at the café de la Renaissance near the town hall, children can begin the treasure hunt that will involve having to find the answers to riddles hung on windows across the city. Participation is free.

Keep in mind however, that the festivities will occur on Wednesday, April 12th, not during the Easter weekend itself.

Over the weekend, there are still many activities to take part in at La Rochelle, including events celebrating Japanese cherry blossom trees and spring time festivities. You can find more information on what to do in La Rochelle HERE. 

Visit Monet’s water lilies in Giverny 

While many of the original water lilies paintings are located in the l’Orangerie museum near Paris’ Tuileries and the Musée Marmottan Monet in the 12th arrondissement, the location that inspired them is a short distance from the capital by train or car. 

Giverny, located in Normandy, is home to impressionist painter Claude Monet’s former home, as well as the pond that inspired his famous water lilies series. The garden and home are open to visitors, and they are particularly known for having a wide array of flowers. The location will be open over Easter weekend, a great time to enjoy the blossoms and spring weather.

You can reserve tickets in advance HERE.

READ MORE: 11 places to visit and festivals to enjoy in France this Spring

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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