Coiffeurs, grooming and stuff
It never ceases to amaze us how many boulangeries, immobiliers (real estate agencies) and coiffeurs there are in France.
In St Remy we counted 16 boulangeries serving a population of 9000, that is one for every 600 residents!
Immobiliers seem to be everywhere. In Nice you could hardly walk 20 metres without tripping over one.
And Coiffeurs of every shape and style are a dime a dozen.
It begs the question - how do they all make money, assuming that they do.
Hairdressers have a couple of things going for them. Firstly, most of their clientele are local residents which provides them with demand all year round and therefore they are not subjected to seasonal flows such as tourist businesses experience.
Secondly, a big driver of their cash flow is the regularity of visits from their French lady customers. It is quite common for many of them to have a weekly standing rendezvous.
And I’m not talking about celebs here, just your average French Madame.
We first learnt this from our neighbour in St Remy, Arlette. ‘1500 vendredi, je suis toujours à chez la coiffeur’. Okay Arlette, we wont ever bother you on Friday afternoons.
The French image of dedication to ‘grooming’ is a reality, and is much to be admired.(I do frequently!)
In Nice, where there is a high percentage of ‘retirees’ it was very evident. Ladies strolling along la Promenade des Anglais in their two piece suits and immaculately coiffured hair styles. Très chic!
Here in Beaune, between us both, we have tried a number of hairdressers. Anne eventually found a gem, Karine at Jacques Dessange. Apart from being an excellent coiffeuse, Karine has a lovely warm personality which she projects with charm and grace.
For a long time I was forbidden entrée to Jacques Dessange - in case I caused any havoc through a combination of any mischievous behaviour and my pathetic French language skills. (that’s an oxymoron right there!)
I am sure it was nothing to do with Karine being very attractive.
However during one of Anne’s absences from Chaudenay I created some lame excuse why I needed to be subjected to Karine’s scissors. As you can see from the image, I was able to tell Anne I was in good hands. Well my hair was.
A Bientot, Bruce.
May 19th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Nice piece, Bruce. And I do not mean Karine. The hairdressers I can do without. If you knew me personally you would know why…
Agences d’Immobilier, well, where there is demand for properties, you more or less need these sharks, don’t you?
As for bakers, I totally disagree. The more proper bakers, the merrier. We treat ourselves often to a baguette from one of our two bakers (on 503 inhabitants), and they are superb à €0.80 compared to the stuff the spermarket churns out à €0.35.
In the Netherlands my wife always wondered what Dutch housewives did with the tons of leeks they seemed to buy throughout winter, day after day. I still do not know the answer.
But what really puzzled us in France is the fetish of the French with “matelas”. No matter where you go, there always seems to be a display of mattresses on the village square in any old village. One mattras in a lifetime is perhaps Dutch stinginess, but how many mattresses does a French family go through per year to justify the amount for sale?
May 20th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Hi Cees, enjoyed your retort!
I’m envious, we have 1000 residents in Chaudenay but not one boulangerie. But I enjoy the 30 mins bike ride to/from Chagny each morning. And I kid myself it is good exercise! The only bread I ever buy at Intermarche, and then only occasionally, is something called a polka longue - crusty, but a thick doughy density- très tasty!
Hadn’t really noticed the matelas ’syndrome’! Bed linen out windows yes, but not the mattress! We must say French do make excellent quality mattresses, we use ‘epdea’ brand which ar eoften praised by our guests.
You floored me about the leeks - us Kiwis always associate leeks with Wales! Our images of the Netherlands are tulips, cheese, diamonds and beer - not to forget clogs and dykes. We learnt at primary school the sotor yof Peter putting his finge rin the dyke!
So what is your wife’s theory about the leeks??! A Bientot, Bruce.
May 20th, 2010 at 11:04 am
Hi, Bruce.
The leeks are a riddle to me as well. They are always in abundance in the shops in NL. The only time I have used them or seen them used was in a soup, small quantity in rings, or in the “nassi groenten” (vegetables to be mixed with fried rice = nassi goreng, Malay dish), also in small quantities. Sue never dared ask a Dutch lady in the shop what she was going to do with those things. British shyness, I assume. I often offered to help her out, but “oh, no, that is soooooo embarrassing!”.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:18 am
Along with the bermuda triangle, the leeks of the Netherlands will remain as one of life’s great mysteries!!
There is a Dutch couple who own a decor shop (a very good one too) in Chagny, I’ll see what they have to say!