August = Parisians' mass exodus from the city

CLOSED
Come back in September...
Another recent Op-Ed article in the New York Times compared the quality-of-life between Americans and the French, particularly regarding the wonderfully copious amounts of vacation-time the French (though really most Europeans) have.


"Perhaps even more important, however, the members of that French family are compensated for their lower income with much more time together. Fully employed French workers average about seven weeks of paid vacation a year. In America, that figure is less than four.

So which society has made the better choice?"


He doesn't mention that with the recent law enforcing a thirty-five hour work-week, companies (such as mine) that continue to work a forty hour work along with the US are awarded even more vacation time to their employees to compensate!

Much of the editorial talks about "living smaller" and "buying less" (very un-American ideals), which allows Europeans to work less and relax more. As the US politicians like to preach "Family Values", in France they put that into practice by spending the month of August with their families on vacation.

Ever since mid-July, the entire city (in particular our street) has been completely empty with all of its little shops and stores (and many banks, grocery stores, department stores, just about everything) closed. This is quite a contrast considering that the expensive boutiques along our street are usually swarming with shoppers buzzing in and out of the stores and glued to windows peering at the bizarre ridiculously over-priced clothing items on display. We have started to get into the habit of expecting the person or group of persons walking in front of us to stop suddenly and press their face against the shop window. But now that all the shops have their "closed august, for annual vacation" signs in the window, there is no one here.

In fact, even our entire apartment building is empty. All of Paris is on vacation, and it's very quiet.

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Meet Snobby Bear

Snobby Bear
Check the price tag
His suit alone is 300 €.

Complete with a stuck-up nose and a stick up his...

As seen in Paris on the fashion elite Champs-Elysées.

3 Comments:

Rafael and Jasmyn @ mardi, août 16, 2005 6:16:00 AM said...  
I definitely need this bear for Christmas! :) I miss you. blessing in the job search!
Much love,
jas

Aimes113 @ mercredi, août 17, 2005 6:06:00 PM said...  
hahaha that's halarious...and a bit scary.

how to flee the country in 5 easy steps... @ mardi, août 23, 2005 7:05:00 AM said...  
scary is an understatement, when a bear clothes cost more than mine. That's just so wrong!?!?!?

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All Cultures Are Not Equal

this NY Times OpEd article has some interesting points-- may explain some of the changes in my hometown.

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Retourner à Paris

After a little side trip to Cali, we are now officially Mr. and Mrs. I miss everyone! I just want to say thanks to everyone for their support and love. :) So now the job search for me begins!

P.S. British Airways has moved up, and American Airlines is officially the worst for transcontinental flights.

1 Comments:

Matt the Closet Genius @ mardi, août 09, 2005 4:04:00 AM said...  
Happy day! "Best wedding Eh-ver"...who would say that Marc? :)

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