Picnicking on the Ile Saint-Louis
Your taste of life in Paris and France
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It's August in Paris. That means that the city has taken a dramatic change in ambiance...not necessarily for the better or worse, depending on your personal point of view.
Some Parisians LOVE the month of August when the residents are gone, their pups are not pooping on the sidewalks, the traffic is greatly reduced, there's plenty of available parking, the air is warm and there is generally less hubbub on the streets. Restaurants and cafés are serving almost exclusively on sidewalk tables ("sur la terrasse"), businesses have closed their doors and posted signs noting their reopening dates and everyone is asking everyone else where and when they are taking vacation.
Meanwhile, the tourists are here by the droves, lining up to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower or into Notre Dame to see the rosary window. There are parts of town where you'll find yourself elbow-to-elbow with "Berthillon"* ice cream-carrying visitors and others that resemble a ghost town. Picnic spots are doing big business -- Paris Plage, the western point of the Ile Saint-Louis, the Canal Saint-Martin, Place des Vosges, etc., etc....and anywhere one can spread a blanket and open a bottle of wine. (Alcohol is not 'legal' in the parks, but tolerated, so take care to be discrete!)
There's actually lots to do all during the month of August, thanks to the city and other organizers. August 4th the "Cinéma Au Clair de Lune" 10th edition begins with a series of 13 films projected on inflatable screens in the open night air. It's one of the finest things to do -- take your picnic, meet with friends, then watch some fine old film in a location in the city that makes sense as the perfect backdrop to the film. This year's event honors Eric Rohmer, the French director and writer, who died earlier this year by opening the program with his film, "Les Nuits De La Pleine Lune" at the Square Louise Michel not far from Sacré Coeur -- perfectly fitting on all counts, right? (For the listing of all the films, visit Cinema-au-clair-de-lune)
August 15th is the deadest of all days of the year -- it's a holiday (Assumption) and dead center of the vacation season. This year it falls on a Sunday which means it will be even quieter than usual. One thing great to do that day, if you happen to be one of the few left in the city, is visit one of the many "brocantes" (rummage sales) taking place in Paris (in the 10th, 14th and 15th) and the Ile-de-France (eight others). (See vide-greniers.org for the full listing.)
It's also a great day to take out a "Vélib" or other bike, since you can virtually ride the wrong way up one-way streets as busy as rue de Rivoli without encountering a single car in sight! (What a strange feeling that is!)
This past Saturday I asked the group at the Parler Parlor French-English conversation group (which actually stays open all summer long for regular sessions three times a week) how the French can so easily take three or four weeks of vacation, close their businesses and just forget about daily life as they know it without suffering repercussions.
"What repercussions?," they asked.
"Like loss of revenue, things that must be attended to such as paying bills, watering your plants...and all the things that keep life rolling along," I said, still wondering after all these years of living here how they manage it. It seems so incredulous to me that a thriving enterprise wouldn't want to scatter their employees' vacations or hire summer employees so that they could continue to pay their rent and earn enough to pay for their employees' vacations...which they must do by law, all five weeks of it!
But they don't see it like we (Americans) see it. I see hiring part-timers to fill in during summer vacation period as a benefit to the people who want to work and earn more, while they see it as exploitation of labor. They simply either earn more 11 months of the year to pay for August, or don't even care and see their vacations as a given right and absolutely necessary. Go figure. But no matter how you look at it, while we Americans are working our buns off, they're tanning theirs on the beaches without guilt. So, guess who's smarter!?
I'm getting smart this year myself. This August I'm taking 12 days to tan my buns on the beaches of Corsica, while Parisians and tourists are enjoying their summer days picnicking in Paris. Of course, it will not be without some work. You will still be hearing from me and Parler Paris just as if nothing has changed...that is if I can get an Internet connection!
*Note: Berthillon is a French manufacturer and retailer of luxury ice cream and sorbet, with its primary store on the Ile Saint-Louis owned and operated by the Chauvin family, descendants of the Monsieur Berthillon, who opened the first store in 1954. It's considered by some to be the best in the world.
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
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P.S. My favorite summer drink is "Le Perroquet." Not only does it look beautiful with its cool green color, but it's refreshing and mildly inebriating. Here's how you make it if your local bar or café doesn't know it: Pour one ounce of pastis into the glass, followed by 1 tablespoon of green mint syrup, then pour in about 4 ounces of cold water, and an ice cube or two if you like. Stir and serve.
