Time waits for no man, unless he is eating

As time runs out for the by-election, with polling day tomorrow (they do it on Sundays in France rather than Thursdays), I’ll share this little experience with you:

In English, the word “after-noon” is comprised of two words, “after” and “noon”. In French it is exactly the same, “apres-midi”.

Though linguistically it means the same, culturally they are very different.

In France, they (we) commence lunch at noon. If you are still working at 1202 somebody will enter the office and ask you “Tu [ne] mange pas?” (You’re not eating?) in a way that you might accuse someone of being anorexic or bulimic.

This pause for lunch, as you will no doubt have heard, does indeed last two hours, minimum.

I was asked, in the course of my job, to go to and see someone in another building “early in the afternoon”. I meant to arrive at 1230 but my current task wore on and I was unable to get there before 1330.

It was completely shut.

Except for establishments that sell food, everything is shut between 1200 and 1400. You have been warned.