Summer in the City

LA VIE PARISIENNE As the summer descends on Paris, residents leave for their vacations and tourists discover the city’s slow side.

Butchers, bakers and even banks close for the summer holidays [photos © Lorie Teeter Lichtlen]

When the French formalized the right to paid vacation in 1936, little did Léon Blum’s Popular Front government know they were enacting a cultural revolution that would have lasting repercussions. National law extended the initial two weeks of congés payés to three weeks in 1956, four in 1969, and five in 1982.

Over the course of 90 years, most French people have learned to build their work schedules around their congés payés. Nowhere is that more evident than in Paris, whose residents tend to flee the City of Light in the summer. In the peak vacation period, from Bastille Day on July 14^th to Assumption Day on August 15^th, the urban pace slows to a crawl.

More decades ago than I care to admit, The Wall Street Journal published a story I co-authored under the title, “Don’t Even Bother Trying to Do Things as France Vacations.” In it, my bureau chief and I lamented the fact that everything – including Berthillon, the best ice cream maker in Paris – was closed in the summer. Hot and hungry patrons had to turn to less luscious alternatives.

Hellooo… Anyone There?

Berthillon wasn’t alone: at that time, even public swimming pools were closed, as were many shops and restaurants, doctors’ and dentists’ practices, and pharmacies. Offices operated with a skeletal staff, and some French media outlets stopped publishing altogether as their teams took a large proportion of their annual vacation. Much of that is still true now.

Even today, public services adopt summer hours. As of August 3^rd, my local post office is closed on Mondays as well as Sundays, and its weekday hours run from 10am to 6pm, compared with 8am to 7pm the rest of the year. Same for my local pharmacy, which is open from 9am to 12:30pm and then from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, versus 8am to 8pm in normal times.

My local bank branch and bakery, as well as the butcher, flower, and fancy pastry shops, are all closed for three to four weeks. Luckily, these services post their summer hours in advance so we can plan ahead.

There’s Always the Paris Beach

Granted, I live in a residential neighborhood. The more touristy areas of Paris remain mostly open for business. Also, since that WSJ article, City Hall has made efforts to make Paris livelier for summer visitors.

Each year, since 2002, it brings in everything from palm trees and parasols to deckchairs to create “Paris Plages” (“Paris Beaches”) along the banks of the Seine and other waterways. Last year, it opened three areas of the river to swimmers – especially welcome with the increasing number of intense heatwaves.

Plus, rekindling memories of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the “Vasque” is back in the Tuileries Garden until mid-September. Weather permitting, this 30-meter-tall helium balloon that was the Olympic Flame is visible each evening from sunset.

While the main Berthillon shop is still closed (until September 1^st), a number of retailers on the Île Saint-Louis and elsewhere that stock its ice cream and sorbets remain open. In a country that has been slow to adopt air conditioning, this is already a measure of progress.

For information on what’s happening in Paris this summer (despite the exodus of many of its residents) see here.

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Lorie Teeter Lichtlen is a Paris-based journalist and ghostwriter. Her work has been published in outlets including Air Mail, The Wall Street Journal, W Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, and Newsweek. She also shares her quirky insights into life in France via her own Substack at Little Lights on Rosa Happiness Street. Lorie is a member of the Anglo-American Press Association of Paris.