THE PARIS LETTER: When the heck are things open around here?

Bear with me, because this may be a little bit of a rant. But - when are things open around here??

I've lived here for two years now, and I still don't know. Every week I seem to head out on an errand only to find the shop/market/office is closed, and I'll have to come back. The French system, even in Paris, still functions on a closed-on-Sunday/closed-for-lunch mentality that to an American feels completely alien and bizarre.

I will give you some examples of the pitfalls in my weekly shopping routine: I live next door to a big supermarket, Monoprix, which I think of as kind of a combination of Whole Foods and Target. Blessedly, they are open every day except Sunday. They don't, however, sell some things  - good bread and good cheese, for example, or olives, whole bean coffee, cilantro, whole wheat flour, peanut butter, or oatmeal - so these necessitate a trip to the nearby covered market, boulangerie, coffee roaster, and natural foods store. Additionally, I'll often throw in a trip to the butcher or fishmonger - though you can get meat and fish at Monoprix, they don't have a large selsction - and then, of course, the caviste for some interesting wine. And, as I've mentioned in a previous post, any over the counter drugs or prescriptions necessitate a trip to the Pharmacie.

Okay, so already that's a little complicated. Fortunately, all of these places are within a 15 minute walk of my house - though, tragically, not all are within the SAME 15 minute walk. The market is in one direction; the coffee shop, pharmacie, and natural foods store are in the opposite direction, the best butcher and fishmonger are in still a third direction...you get the idea. With the baby now, I do the majority of my shopping next door at Monoprix because I just do not have this kind of time.

Because its not just the endless shopping, its planning WHEN you can actually get things. The covered market, where I can get cheese, olives, cilantro and other specialty veggies, and good wine and beer, is not open on Mondays, and is closed Tuesday through Friday from 1PM to 4PM. It IS open on Sunday morning until 1PM, though generally a madhouse as the French shop for their Sunday lunch.

Every boulangerie has its own schedule of closures. Most are closed on Sunday and one other random day that must be memorized, though some are open on Sunday and then closed two other days. Of the three closest to me, one is closed Saturday and Sunday, one is open Sunday but closed Thursday, one is closed Sunday and Wednesday -you get the idea.

In addition, many stores that are open on Sunday morning are then closed all day on Monday, making Monday an unofficial third weekend day in Paris. Some of these stores ARE open Monday, but only after lunch, from 3PM-7PM, say.

And this doesn't include the various government offices that become part of your daily life in this welfare state. These function according to a complex system of national holidays that are completely different than the holidays in the US, and include Catholic holidays that Matt and I had to look up on Wikipedia  to understand: Ascension Day and Pentecost, for example. But really, these days are just like their equivalents in the US (Presidents Day and Columbus Day come to mind) - excuses for people to take a three-or-four day weekend. Often, if the holiday itself is on a Wednesday or Thursday, businesses will "faire le pont" or, literally, "make the bridge" - taking off the Thursday or Friday or both to give the workers a long weekend, where they can all go to their family country houses and snipe at their relatives. And many government offices have extremely abbreviated hours on a week with one of these holidays in it ...

Finally, the French school holiday calendar makes up for its relatively short summer break with periodic two week breaks during the school year, usually one in October and one in February/March. During these times, businesses could close down, people will be out of the office, and things will just generally slow down. Oh, and don't forget AUGUST, when everyone goes on vacation - some for the whole month, some just for two weeks - but not the same two weeks ....

Whew, okay, rant over. I have to stop now so I can get the shopping done in the twenty minutes everything will be open!

THE PARIS LETTER: Butchers, Movie Theaters, and Residency Cards

Hello from my Parisian sickbed -

Yes its the dreaded winter head cold time - really more irritating than anything else. I came down with it a couple of days ago and I keep thinking I'm in better shape than I am - bleah. However, lots of fun stuff to talk about this week - butchers, movie theaters, and the joys of the Parisian prefecture de police!

1. LONG CONVERSATIONS WITH MY BUTCHER -

My local butcher during the holidays

This is what my friends have decided my book about my life in Paris should be called - and indeed, a lot of my food adventures here have become about finding, buying and cooking different cuts of meat, and having long hilarious conversation with French butchers, where we try to explain to each other what parts and cuts of the animal we are talking about. I've learned a lot about anatomy, and the words for various parts of the body in both French and English. I've also found myself doing research online about the differences between French and American butchering and cuts of meat. Things I didn't set out to learn, but which I think will actually set me in good stead for years to come.