French Stores

We ran out of toilet paper this morning. As I was the only one home in the early afternoon and I had already had several glasses of Evian and Coca light, I decided it would be wise to run a few errands. Of course this means walking because I don't have a car here, but that was okay. It was a gorgeous fall day. So I grabbed my jacket and wallet and headed out to downtown Achères.

As I was walking, I couldn't help but notice how empty the streets were. I figured it was normal. Everyone was at work or school right? And then as I neared the pharmacy, I saw that its little green cross was not illuminated. Closed? On a Tuesday? Was it a holiday? Just beyond the pharmacy, I could see that the small grocery store ED's was also closed, the metal cages pulled over the doors and windows. It couldn't be a holiday. Someone would've told me right?

And then I remembered. It was still "lunchtime." French stores all close for lunch sometime around noon and and don't open again until 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon. The pharmacy wouldn't reopen until 2:30. I didn't even look at the grocery store's hours, but instead headed back home desperately hoping that there was perhaps a stray roll of toilet paper (or Kleenex! or even paper towels!) in one of the cabinets. And I really began to wish I had skipped that last glass of Coca Light...sigh....

At about 3:30, Gaby got home and we got ready to head out again. But clouds had moved in by this time and as I was once again putting on my jacket, it started pouring outside. Too much pop, pouring rain and no TP are a bad combination. Today France was definitely against me. I missed Target. And its long hours. And my car. :(

Don't get me wrong. I do think it's nice that people get a 2-hour lunch. As someone who usually has to scarf down a sandwich between classes, I can appreciate having time to enjoy a meal and even digest a little before returning to work. That said, I still wish that there was some sort of emergency store open for people who run out of a very necessary item right before or even during the lunch hours.

Oh, and when we did finally get to the store to run our errands, we very nearly forgot the toilet paper believe it or not. Sigh...