My blog

The French take summer holidays very seriously.  Everybody, and I mean everybody goes on holidays, and pretty much all at around the same time - July and August.  This is a picture taken on July 11th, at the Montparnasse train station while we were on our way to Brittany for the long weekend.  A lot of these people were probably on their way to places called “centres de vacances” situated all over France.  These places employ people called “animateurs” (usually struggling students), who are in charge of organizing activities for kids and parties in the evening where everybody sings traditional “summer holiday” songs.  Everybody, and I mean everybody knows the words to these songs by heart.   They make movies about these places.  They sell “vacation” activity books for kids.  I’m telling you, in France, the summer holidays is an institution!  Which isn’t bad I suppose.  I guess I’d rather be at a centre de vacances singing my heart out than sitting at my computer figuring out how to display an “e accent aigu”.  Man, I need a vacation.