The use of pour.

Question

The problem I have is with the question of how to translate "Gregory goes away for the holidays" and one of the answers is give as "Gregory part pour les vacances." In the notes the use of "pour" as I understand is used only with future durations of events, either stated, or even implied. The question though is a general statement of habit as I read it, so is "pour allowed in these cases?

Answer

This is a good question but a subtle one. I would definitely wait for the qualified answer of a native speaker. However, my personal take on this below:

The use of "pour" in the sentence "Gregory part pour les vacances" is more of a directional sense than a temporal. Because used in a temporal sense, pour can also mean "pendant", as in : "Je vais être à Paris pour 5 jours." Therefore the sentece: "En général je pars pour les vacances en été." (Generally I go on vacation in summer.) is perfectly OK.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Answer

Bonjour Paul !

Thank you very much for this question, as I had to think it over before finding what the issue was :) 
Here I actually used the wrong tense in English, as it should have been "Gregory is going on holiday.". Indeed, you were correct in that you wouldn't use "pour" for a general statement, and thanks to you, I've now corrected the question.

Bonne journée !

Answer

I think that the use of "part" does not indicate a general habit. It means something like he's leaving now, at this time. So that would explain why you can't use "pour" I think. I am not an expert!