Les Soldes
Believe it or not, even the quintessentially elegant Parisian can stoop to feral behaviour during the twice-yearly sales (they start tomorrow in France). Shopping for yarn in Bon Marché a few years ago on the second day of the sales, a well-dressed lady (hat, pearls and all) literally snatched a bag of yarn out of my hands. I was disgusted to see she had discarded it moments later in favour of another colour.
With the economy as fragile as it is, general sales in France have been pretty low in the first half of the year. I wonder if we'll see more or less people at the sales this year?
Heather has written a few tips on shopping during the sales in France. Helpful if you don't want to lose an eye over a pair of socks, or if you want to avoid going to jail because you've strangled someone with a coathanger for eyeing off the bundle of dresses you've got under your arm.
Les soldes = sales
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I live in an area where someone was severely injured in one of those Black Friday Sales last year. I stay away from them whenever possible. I understand that they occur less frequently in Paris when in the United States.
When I was a kid most stores closed up on holidays, and most certainly days like Memorial Day or Veterans Day (Remembrance Day) were days when we would go to a war memorial in a park to attend the ceremonies remembering the dead in various wars. Now every occasion is an excuse for selling something.
Back then, most stores were closed on the weekends, or at least they only opened for a half day on Saturdays, and closed completely on Sunday.
I don't know how this works in Paris these days, but I have friends in other areas of Europe where the same still holds. Most stores close early on Saturdays in smaller cities and towns, and not much opens at all on Sundays.
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I've been to a few Black Friday sales (on the day which starts the Christmas shopping season in the U.S.), and this sounds very similar. As a matter of fact, there was a horrible incident in our local area last year when a Wal Mart employee was trampled while trying to help a pregnant woman who had fallen in front of the crowd entering the store. Stupid mob mentality.