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French no longer bon vivants
The French now have so much free time that they cannot afford to enjoy it, tourism professionals said yesterday, blaming a sharp fall in summer hotel and restaurant revenues on the average Gallic tourist's newfound parsimony.
35 hour work week, 11% unemployment, private sector hasn't grown in 20 years, yep, some belt-tightening just might be in order ...
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.
Barbarians!
Overall, it estimates that takings this summer are down by 15-20%. "One of the effects of so much more time off is that people are spending so much more through the year on planes and trains that that they have to economise when they are actually away," said Brigitte Lenfant of the tourist office at Meditterranean resort of La Grande Motte.
Next year they'll stay home and putter 'round the house ...
Official statistics appear to confirm the trend away from the traditional month-long summer vacation. A French government agency said last week that the average summer break now lasted a fortnight.

France's faltering economy and unemployment rate is not helping either. A recent survey by Ipsos polling group found that 52% of French people planned to spend less than €1,500 (£1,038) of their budget on holidays this year. The proportion taking at least one break away from home is also falling. Nearly 16% of the population have never been away and half of all French holidaymakers now stay with friends or family.

The trend is being particularly keenly felt along the Mediterranean and south-western Atlantic coast, where most of the year's income is earned in July and August. "It's really getting problematic," said one Nice hotelier and restaurateur. "People are having a snack at lunchtime and avoiding anything that resembles a restuarant.

"Often they'll go out for a full three-course meal in a decent establishment just once in their whole holiday. We're no longer a nation of bon vivants, it seems."
Posted by: Steve White 2005-08-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=126243