Friday 8 January 2010

Congé <> vacances



Photo from Flickr/l r

In the part of France where I live, if you try to visit a restaurant or some museums or châteaux, you are likely to find a notice like the one above saying that the place is shut for "congés annuels".  If you are in Paris, you may very well see the same thing during August.  Sometimes they do say "vacances annuelles" and so I've always believed that the two words, congé and vacances, both meant holidays.

Well I was wrong, they aren't interchangeable.  There is quite an amount of overlap but  "vacances" means pleasurable holidays where "congé" is more of an official period of leave.

All that preamble is to say I am taking a congé, a week or so off blogging.  The house move has been less than smooth, there is so much to do that it's hard to concentrate on anything else, and now the heating has stopped - this is the coldest winter in the UK since the 1960s.  I think I am justified in not using "vacances" in this instance.
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10 comments:

  1. Thanks for keeping us posted and have a good break and enjoy settling in :-)

    It's quite cold in Oslo, Norway too; -20C tonight.

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  2. Thanks, A.

    And yes, it sounds as though you're using the right definition for your time away.

    Please stay warm - whatever you have to do!

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  3. Have a good break and move. Interesting definitions.

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  4. I hope you get your heat fixed. It's freezing here in Florida. The weather is crazy!

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  5. The weather here in East Texas has been really cold for us. Not used to seeing ice in puddles, ponds and/or lakes. Especially during a day of sunshine. Stay warm, enjoy your holiday...

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  6. Yikes! Good luck and hope the heat is back on!!!

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  7. It's ok to start posting again now. A break is not the same thing as a hibernation, you know. :)

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  8. Living in a tropical country, I can't imagine how cold it is since I have never had an experience of the cold winter.

    Hope you are coping well.Good luck.

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