By Focus Travel
· May 8, 2026
· 119 views
Victory in Europe Day in France:The Day the Bells Rang Again
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Updated May 15, 2026
At precisely 3 o'clock in the afternoon on May 8th, 1945, church bells erupted across France. Six years of occupation, resistance, devastation, and death had come to an end. General Charles de Gaulle's voice crackled over the radio to announce what millions had barely dared to hope: Nazi Germany had surrendered. It was over. Today, 81 years later, France still stops to remember — and the story of how that remembrance was nearly lost forever is almost as dramatic as the war itself.Date
8 May 1945
Duration of war in Europe
5 years, 8 months
French name
Victoire du 8 mai
Public holiday since
1981 (permanently)
Fun Facts Worth Knowing
Food rationing got worse after victory.
Three weeks after VE Day, bacon rations were cut. By 1946, bread rationing began in Britain, something that had never happened during the war itself.
Fun Facts Worth Knowing
Orléans celebrates two victories on the same day.
The French city of Orléans marks both VE Day and the anniversary of Joan of Arc lifting the Siege of Orléans, which occurred on May 8th, 1429, over 500 years ago.
Fun Facts Worth Knowing
Bunting was rationed then briefly wasn't.
The British government temporarily suspended the rationing of red, white, and blue bunting so people could decorate the streets. Photos show Soviet and American flags flying alongside Union Jacks across London.
Fun Facts Worth Knowing
84% of French people opposed scrapping it.
When Prime Minister Bayrou suggested removing May 8th as a cost-cutting measure in 2025, polling showed 84% of French people were against it. Bayrou was toppled as PM shortly after.
What Happens in France Today
Across France this morning,
The same ceremony is playing out in every village, town, and city. The mayor, the local council, veterans' associations, firefighters and schoolchildren gather at the war memorial. The tricolour is raised. Wreaths are laid. The Sonnerie aux Morts, the French equivalent of the Last Post, is played as flag-bearers lower their standards. A minute of silence falls. Then La Marseillaise, and a reception at the town hall.
In Paris, President Macron drives up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and stands before the eternal flame that has burned there since 1923. Some people wear a bleuet, a cornflower, the French flower of remembrance, pinned to their jacket. Banks and offices are shut. Many restaurants are full. This year, falling on a Friday, it has created a three-day weekend, a pont, as the French call it.
In Paris, President Macron drives up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and stands before the eternal flame that has burned there since 1923. Some people wear a bleuet, a cornflower, the French flower of remembrance, pinned to their jacket. Banks and offices are shut. Many restaurants are full. This year, falling on a Friday, it has created a three-day weekend, a pont, as the French call it.
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