About Paris time
Paris keeps Central European Time and, alongside Berlin and Rome, anchors the schedule of continental Europe and the EU institutions.
France technically spans a westerly longitude closer to London’s, but has used Central European Time since the 1940s, so Parisian summers see the sun linger past 21:30. The long August vacation (“les grandes vacances”) reshapes business hours across the country, and many offices shorten Friday afternoons year-round. All EU states change their clocks on the same instant, unlike the U.S., keeping intra-Europe scheduling tidy.
EU summer-time standardLate Parisian summer sunsetsAugust business slowdown