Try Explaining "Black Friday" To A French Person

My "inbox" is full of "Black Friday" internet offers.  I've been tempted by a few, especially those that offer free shipping.

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving.  It is a holiday for most people in the US.  It's our only "pont" of the year and we defend it fiercely.  If we had to work on this day, we couldn't visit family that live far away, we couldn't overindulge, we couldn't stand on our feet all day cooking.  And, we couldn't shop!

Black Friday is the day that retailers start to show a profit for the year.  They go into the "black" from the "red".

I've been trying to explain this, in French (which makes it harder) to French people this week, without much success.

I think the French use the words black and red to describe positive and negative numbers on a balance sheet, but the rest of this concept is lost. 

I keep getting snarled up in the middle of the description of the day with people telling me that we Americans consume too much.  They don't mean just turkey, they mean everything.  I can't say if they're right or wrong, I think there are members of every society who buy more than the need/want/can use.  That's why we have Goodwill and the Salvation Army. 

In any case, since there is no Thanksgiving in France, the Christmas decorations here went up before Halloween.  Chocolate is abundant and Pere Noel is everywhere.  Who needs Black Friday?

Austerity was "so" yesterday

Today's demonstrations on the streets of Paris are the opponents of gay marriage. 

Yesterday's demonstrators were against austerity measures.  I can't seem to keep up with it all. 

This is not exactly a scary group of people.  Not the "religious right" either.  I'm not sure that there is such a thing as religious right in France.

In any case, my transportation woes continue.  I'll be running my errands on foot this afternoon.

Austerity

I'm planning my day's activities around demonstrations in Paris.  I will take the metro instead of the bus, since bus routes are above ground, therefore uncertain. 

On Wednesday we went to the Louvre and had to take a metro rather than our beloved #95 bus which takes us through a very beautiful section of town before dropping us off right by the pyramids.

The good thing about taking the metro is that it's faster and more reliable.  The bad things are that it often requires a lot of walking in dirty, smelly corridors underground.  The metro to the Louvre left us off in the Carousel du Louvre which is an upscale shopping center under and beside the museum.  I didn't shop but I looked at the windows.  Of note (and not particularly good) there are two (2) Starbucks within a 5 second walk of each other in the Carousel du Louvre, no idea why there are two.

So, my afternoon will be spent in the metro today going to my various activities.  This is because there will be street demonstrations to protest "austerity". France isn't having as much civil insurrection as Greece and Spain.

Austerity is not fun, we all know this.  If I have less money, I spend less money.  With interest rates and investment income at an all-time low, we are practicing some austerity measures.  If the government doesn't have as much money as they used to, they will have to cut spending.  While we don't like it, I don't think people have to demonstrate for days on end about this.  When they are demonstrating, they aren't working, they aren't taking care of their children, they're not looking for a job.  It's not a very productive way to deal with the situation, in my opinion.

I say this as I get out my Navigo card and hike it out to the metro.

What All The Little French Kids Are Wearing This Winter

I saw this in a store window and had to take a photo. It's faux fur, so it's politically correct. 

I've seen similar outfits on some babies already, the weather is starting to get cold.

Les Sangliers (Wild Boar)

For some weird reason, I have fallen in love with this crazy, ugly and aggressive creature.  This is the French sanglier, or wild boar.  Evidently they reproduce like rabbits and their population has exploded throughout France.

Unfortunately, they eat things that they shouldn't; vegetables in the garden, flowers and plants, maybe even small pets.  They run in packs.  When they're all together, maybe 10-20 of them, they're pretty formidable.  Sharp teeth in addition to little tusks.  Short legs that move quickly and can dart in and out easily.  And, a will to survive.

I've heard that they are a tasty game treat.  I can't imagine how much work it would take to get all that prickly fur off and then tenderize the meat, so I'm not in the market to eat them.  I guess the hunters can rationalize killing them -- deplete the overpopulation of sangliers.

Evidently there are even a number of humans that are killed each year in road accidents with sangliers. I guess that's a lose-lose situation.

In any case, I hope these creature survive and flourish, despite their reputation.