The next two months are likely the busiest travel period in France. Why? July and August are peak vacation months for French workers as they take their vacations on their beaches or in the mountains. As many return from their July vacations, others begin theirs, thus the transportation gridlock during the closest weekend to where July and August meets.. As you may already know the maximum workweek in France is 35 hours. French workers who work beyond that often receive additional days or weeks of vacation. Furthermore, in France, the legal minimum annual vacation is 5 weeks and there are 11 national holidays