Never on a Sunday: In France le Burger, la Crise, and le Dimanche Sacré

Long ago, when fast-food chain MacDonald’s first washed up on these shores, alarmists and politicians warned of an American gastronomical invasion. Le burger was a vulgarity, albeit a delicious one. Nevertheless Belgium entered the fray with its own fast-food burger restaurant, Quick, but le Macdo was always the French teenager’s burger of choice.

Yet on a recent Sunday in Paris’ Marais district, le burger had become supersized and luxurious. Restaurants face off with signs boasting of their architectural wonders dreamed up in beef and bun. The Marais on Sundays is like New York’s SoHo on Sundays: insufferable, with legions of young, fashionable types strutting by cafes and providing fashion entertainment for those dining inside. Coffee and a croissant? “Non, today we ‘ave ze brunch.” Along with le burger is le brunch, which never my wildest dreams would imagine being of any interest to the French.

 

 

 

Along with Sunday brunch, the gourmet burger has reached a frenzy. At Blend in Paris’ Marais district, customers wait in line for a table.

La Crise

 

Of course there are far more serious things happening in France than just a trend in burgers and brunch.

 

France continues to hurtle into triple digit recession and La crise economique is being dealt with the staunch denial that anything substantial can be done about it. What do they think of le Made in France? A PR campaign dreamed up by France’s Minister of Industrial Renewal, Arnaud Montebourg, who’s book La Bataille de Made in France made headlines with when he posed for publicity photos wearing an Armor-Lux brand breton striped shirt and holding a Moulinex blender. Few of the French we met any belief that a relaunch, so to speak, of made in France products could seriously help resuscitate the economy.

 

“China,” they say, shaking their head. One word.

 

Much has been written of France’s 35-hour workweek, a model that has clearly lost its relevance when placed against new world economies. Still, a majority still believes in the moral values of a balanced work life – even if the economy is tanking.  The issue is being challenged even further now as the country’s unemployment rate soars at staggering 10.8% unemployment, marking one of the worst recessions in France’s history.

 

 

The center-right political party or Alliance Centriste, are one of the main proponents of protecting France’s tradition of businesses being closed on Sundays. Meanwhile, larger stores like Le Roi Merlin are staying open and profiting.

 

Everywhere we went from Paris to Toulouse to Montpellier, there were businesses that had shut down or simply given up for the winter. The thinking among retailers seems to be, if no one is out spending money, why bother staying open? Others made their business hours so limited or confusing that it’s any wonder they bothered posting them at all.

 

It’s easy to understand the principle of French work hours, one designed to maintain a quality of life that includes extensive holidays, government regulated business hours, and of course, a nearly unilateral Sunday off for every citizen. 

 

What that means is that there is virtually no business happening at all, while the rest of the world chugs along building their own economies. 

 

Never on a Sunday

 

The French take their time off so seriously, some might wonder just how they can truly expect an economic turnaround without innovating new ideas for a market-based economy.

 

In Montpellier, as in cities across France, we experienced not just Sundays off, but Mondays off, especially for restaurants. We ended up at a Hippopotamus, a family-style restaurant chain where for 11 Euros you can have a nice bloody hamburger, even if you ordered it well done.

 

Our question is: why not create incentives for people to go out and eat on Mondays? Can’t we assume that some people, even those with only a few Euros to spend, might go out to eat, especially if you create some sort of value-driven concept for Monday nights? Or partner with other restaurants and feature a “traveling” menu where meals are taken at several locations in one neighborhood? “That’s a very American. Idea.” No, it’s just marketing.

 

 

 

Nevertheless, even if you wanted to challenge the Sunday rule, French laws still protect Sundays as the repos dominical and only certain zones and businesses are permitted to be open. France’s Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault insists that the tradition is sacred.

 

We twice attempted to visit a children’s bookstore. On Saturday they were only open a total of four hours. On Sunday they were closed. On Monday, more limited hours. I suggested to the owner that, considering she was running a family-oriented business, wouldn’t it make sense to be open on weekends, when parents and children spend time together?

 

“Ah non,” she replied. “Le dimanche c’est sacré.” In Paris, she told us, bookstores do very good business on Sundays. It was clear that she was never going to consider such an idea.

 

Then again, we are in the land of “Non,” one of the few places I’ve visited in the world where a sentence can be begun with Non even if they mean to say Oui. There are plenty in France who simply do not want things to change, and this is a big part of the problem. As much as they admit things are bad, they simply aren’t willing to change what’s wrong with the system and challenge the status quo.

 

Lui  — et Elle

 

Despite the power of the internet, print media is still a thriving culture in France, inextricably linked to the café culture where men of different classes clutch l’Equipe for sports or Le Nouvel Observateur or Le Figaro for news (I still devour Paris Match.)

 

Of the few businesses open on Sundays, the small local Tabac is a hive of activity, a social hub. On this particular Sunday, a cluster of men huddle around the new March issue of Lui, the iconic 1960’s soft porn magazine that’s recently been relaunched and featuring bold name photographers and cover stars.

 

 

The March issue of Lui boasts three-in-one covers of Kate Moss, and plenty more in a multi-page spread shot by photographer Terry Richardson. Meanwhile, Elle Magazine’s revamped look features a more sophisticated design.

 

This month’s cover features lensman Terry Richardson’s photos of Kate Moss, who apparently loves to be naked and bring her milkshake to the yard. The magazine continues its Vaseline-on-the-lens vibe and adds modern editorial features on men’s fashion, technology, and people profiles. If you’re a breast man (or woman), then this is the magazine for you: there are all matter of close up shots of Moss’s breasts and nearly anyone else who appears in the magazine.

 

Late last month, France’s weekly version of Elle magazine was relaunched with a new look thanks to consultant Tom Meredith and the magazine’s new creative director, Yann Weber. The redesign includes adding a robust events calendar and news feature sections designed to make the magazine more timely and relevant to what’s happening.

 

Like so many women’s magazines in France, the emphasis is more on content than the American emphasis on diets and navel-gazing, with often crisp, modern, graphic design that is rarely seen in mainstream U.S. media.

 

 

 

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