Why On Earth Do People Go Out For a Meal?

[Dave2002]

Spain (or at least those parts of it - principally Catalunya - that I've visited) tends to have a similar situation in which they start to eat lunch when the French finish doing so.

If anyone ever does business in Macedonia, and there's coffee in the mid morning - stock up on biscuits and goodies. They'll probably give you lunch, but not till after 4pm! Maybe they're big on breakfasts, but casual visitors won't know.

[vinteuil]

.

... but the very heart-warming tradition in Poland of always having a "second breakfast" - drugie śniadanie - to keep you going thro' the morning...


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[Alain Maréchal]

and every time we're in France outside the big cities there is at least one day when it's forgotten that this is the time when restaurants close for the afternoon, which seriously spoiled a visit to the aforementioned (in another thread) Brioude two months ago. (Are there any good restaurants in Brioude? I have no idea, having had instead to buy sandwiches at a supermarket.) With the benefit of hindsight (and a non-empty stomach) it makes me happy that in a country that receives so many tourists you have to do things their way or go hungry.

Ici on mange à midi. Nice even has a noonday gun to remind you. Also, do not expect to dine before 1900. I'm never quite sure why anybody who comes to France to enjoy France should expect the French not to be French. The British appear to expect shops to open on a Sunday.

[jean]

... but the very heart-warming tradition in Poland of always having a "second breakfast" - drugie śniadanie - to keep you going thro' the morning....

I was always working from about 8.15 until about 2, so I never saw any of that.

After 2 you could eat I suppose, if you weren't too tired.

Evening concerts started at 6, or 7 at the latest.

[ahinton]

Ici on mange à midi. Nice even has a noonday gun to remind you. Also, do not expect to dine before 1900. I'm never quite sure why anybody who comes to France to enjoy France should expect the French not to be French. The British appear to expect shops to open on a Sunday.

But now the French are increasingly following suit.

[Alain Maréchal]

to the extent of three additional Sundays each year - a total of seven, including the already-permitted Sundays within Advent. Makes no changes here - any resort/spa, at the discretion of the Maire, may open on Sundays. Half the region flocks here - very profitable for local businesses, even the retailers of luxury goods and chocolatiers.

http://www.auxmarocains.com/

Other confiseries are available - many other.

[vinteuil]

I was always working from about 8.15 until about 2, so I never saw any of that.
After 2 you could eat I suppose, if you weren't too tired.
Evening concerts started at 6, or 7 at the latest.

... o, that is sad - you really missed out!

https://kobieco.pl/ciekawe-pomysly-na-drugie-sniadanie/

[french frank]

Ici on mange à midi. Nice even has a noonday gun to remind you.

Quite right. Favourite haunt Le Perraudin in the Quartier Latin: 12.00 - 14.30, 19.00- 22.30. Restaurants and bistros open twice a day, brasseries (most often) open from morning until late. Non?

[Alain Maréchal]

Ohhhhh! Thank you, ff, I can smell it from here. Reading the carte, it looks very Lyonnais to me. So many bistrots, so little time left - it will be on my list for the next visit. Is there an icon for "drools immoderately"? (Have not yet dined this evening, hence the enthusiasm).

http://www.restaurant-perraudin.com/

[ahinton]

Ohhhhh! Thank you, ff, I can smell it from here. Reading the carte, it looks very Lyonnais to me. So many bistrots, so little time left - it will be on my list for the next visit. Is there an icon for "drools immoderately"? (Have not yet dined this evening, hence the enthusiasm).

http://www.restaurant-perraudin.com/

(...reaches swiftly for Brittany Ferries' phone number). If there isn't such an icon, someone should design one! Prices pretty reasonable as well (and would be more so had Brexit brisé not impacted so severely upon the pound/euro relationship)...

[cloughie]

Ici on mange à midi. Nice even has a noonday gun to remind you. Also, do not expect to dine before 1900. I'm never quite sure why anybody who comes to France to enjoy France should expect the French not to be French. The British appear to expect shops to open on a Sunday.

Yes and it is useful to remember that if travelling north on a Sunday towards your chosen ferry port, having had your idyllic holiday somewhere in the southern half of France, to find a suitable Dimanche dejeuner stop. Over the years avec Mme Cloughie we have had some wonderful serendipitous lunches.

[Richard Tarleton]

In Spain the corresponding gloom-inducing phrase in the Red Michelin guide is cerrado lunes.

[ahinton]

Ici on mange à midi. Nice even has a noonday gun to remind you. Also, do not expect to dine before 1900. I'm never quite sure why anybody who comes to France to enjoy France should expect the French not to be French. The British appear to expect shops to open on a Sunday.

I see now that La Poste is to commence Sunday parcel deliveries soon; Royal Fail / Parcelfarce don't even do that over here yet!

[Alain Maréchal]

I see now that La Poste is to commence Sunday parcel deliveries soon; Royal Fail / Parcelfarce don't even do that over here yet!

I had not noticed. Why does anybody need a parcel delivered on a Sunday? (In this town, any but the central office of La Poste opens mornings-only during July and August- there's La France Profonde for you).

[ahinton]

I had not noticed. Why does anybody need a parcel delivered on a Sunday? (In this town, any but the central office of La Poste opens mornings-only during July and August- there's La France Profonde for you).

Well, those who work on Sundays, for starters. There have been protests along the self-same lines as your question, but the point that I was seeking to make is that this decision has not arisen as a response to any pressure from Brits who don't even do it themselves!