Paris
is Paris... Staying in a hotel
in Paris for a couple of nights is a great way to make a first
acquaintance with France; but, as they say in the rest of France, Paris
is Paris, it is not the whole of France. So what about the rest of
France? One of the
larger
countries in Western Europe, France is also the most varied in terms of
scenery and climate. From Brittany
to Provence,
the Auvergne
, the Dordogne
or the
Alps, Burgundy
to the Languedoc and the Pyrenees, each region is
special, each is
a holiday in itself. So what are you waiting for? Click the regions tab
above for more information about the different regions of Fance.
Of
course, some things like the "baguette", the famous French bread stick,
change little from one region to another; you'll find baguettes of all
qualities in all regions, varying from the absolutely delicious, to the
hard and tasteless. It really is a matter of seeking out the good
little bakery, or getting to know the town you're staying in well.
There's no sure way of knowing where that delectable baguette is going
to come from - except that it probably won't be from a supermarket.
Indeed, the pre-frozen "fresh-baked" bread counters in supermarkets are
not even allowed, by law, to call themselves "boulangeries". But
anyway, where bread is concerned, don't forget that France has a
wonderful range of delicious breads to offer, from the baguette to the batard,
via a whole range of wholemeal breads (pain complet), rye
bread
(pain de seigle),
sourdough bread (pain au
levain), and breads spiced
up with nuts, olives, bacon, cheese and a variety of other natural
additives. The real "boulangeries"
are waiting for you.
If you're travelling through
France, and want to stop and buy Fresh bread for a picnic,
don't forget that many small shops close for up to two hours in
the middle of the day. Boulangeries often stay open beyond the
traditional midday closing hour, but after 12.30 you may well find a
locked door if you stop off at a village bakery.
Be warned.
NORMAL SERVICE IS
SUSPENDED......... don't be caught out.
Public holidays
in France, when everything is closed
The following days are public holidays ("jours
fériés")
in France, when all or most shops tend to be shut.
January 1st, Easter Monday (though not Good Friday except in Alsace),
May 1st, May 8th, Ascension Thursday, July 14th,
August 15th, November 1st,
November
11th, Christmas. Unlike in the UK, when a public holiday
falls during
a weekend, there is no extra compensating holiday on the following
Monday.
Note also that most public museums are closed on TUESDAYS.
For
information about travelling in France, and avoiding problems and
traffic jams, see the Driving in
France page.
Sundays
in France, when most shops are closed
Don't
expect to find shops open in France on Sundays. Sunday in France is
still for most people a day of rest, and most shops are not allowed to
open, except in specific locations at at certain times of year. Sunday
is a day for window shopping in French towns, for most of the year.
Large shops are only allowed to open on Sundays in tourist resorts in
the holiday period; elsewhere, in the cities, Sunday opening is only
allowed on a limited number of Sundays in the run-up to
Christmas.
Nonetheless, small corner shops and
essential services (such as boulangeries)
can open on Sundays if they want to, and indeed Sunday is the busiest
days of the week for many patisseries.
So in any town, it is usually possible to buy fresh bread and groceries
on a Sunday, particularly on Sunday morning. More information on the Shopping in France
page.
Strikes and
barricades
France has the reputation of being a country prone to strikes. In
actual fact, it is not a country where strikes are particularly
commonplace; it is just that they tend to occur in high-profile
sectors, in places where they are very visible and affect the lives of
millions of ordinary men and women; i.e. in public services and in the
transport sector.
Public
transport is a sector frequently
affected by strikes, that can bring rail services or airports to a halt
nationally
or regionally; and all kinds of workers in France have a habit of
blocking roads, ports and railway lines in defence of their objective.
Foreign tourists often find it hard to understand why blockades are not
quickly dispersed by the police; but this is part of the French way of
life, a legacy of the Revolution and the spirit of the "barricades".
Increasingly, police are brought in to disperse blockades, but
generally not until after the striking workers or students have had
time to make
their point.
Under President Sarkozy,
there is likely to be much less tolerance of
blockading and barricading, and the new President has pledged to
introduce a minum service requirement in the event of strikes in public
services. However, it is unlikely that these reforms, approved by most
people in France, will go through without a fight back from
the
unions and the strikers. Things are likely to improve in the coming
years, but as is often the case, they may get worse before the
improvements set in.
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