French no longer bon vivants: "The French now have so much free time that they cannot afford to enjoy it... With many employees entitled to up to 11 weeks annual leave, thanks to the 35-hour-week laws introduced four years ago, the French are taking more breaks. However, they tend to be shorter and holidaymakers have less cash to spend when they are away.
The Union of Hotel and Restaurant Owners said its members have complained that holidaymakers now rarely take aperitifs, that they drink water rather than wine, eat sandwiches at lunchtime, order just one course at dinner and refuse even a post-prandial coffee."
Even the post-prandial coffee?! Is nothing sacred? If the French give up bon vivantism, who will take up their cause? My daydreams are shattered.
