Before we came to France permanently and bought a restaurant, we did not understand the work patterns - restricted hours/days of opening, the staff/client ratio - we certainly do now!
Contracts are very restrictive and inflexible, wages and social costs astronomical (that is, if you can get staff) taxes are high, costs of meeting forever changing legal obligations enormous.
Because the French generally eat at certain times the cost of providing a service outside these times/days is prohibitive.
Whilst we do not intend to adjust our prices as we fortunately have a lot of space, we do sympathise with businesses who have reduced capacity from which to try and earn a living - including trying to catch up for the horrendous losses of the past year (the overheads didnât go away).
I hope this goes some way to explaining what, on the surface of things, appears to be a reluctance to be flexible regarding opening and the need for some establishments to have to adjust their prices because of limited capacity.
Donât forget the price you are paying in a restaurant includes staffing, maintenance, materials, accountancy fees, insurance, overheads, taxes âŠI could go on! 
I criticised what you said i.e. âyouâre wrongâ now you have levelled a personal insult âAnd youâre quite rude! IMOâ so, youâve lost your argumentâŠ
Mr Powell
I believe you are trying to wind us up a little? All in good humour Iâm sure and itâs great to spar from time to time. You know that what you are saying is provocative and illogical but want to have some fun, goodness knows we could all do with some of that, so bravo you for stirring up the discussion and adding some colour!!
We just stopped in a cafĂ© for a drink on the way home, and it seemed the owners had done a deal with the next door home for elderly to put more of his tables outside the home. What was funny was it looked as if all the elderly had scrambled out of their windows to escape, and those tables were largely occupied by people with zimmer frames and walking sticks. They were having a whale of a timeâŠ
No it wasnât me you insulted but just felt your tone was quite rude to the person you were talking to on what is normally a quite friendly forum.
Also I canât see any basis for saying Damian was wrong. The point he made was that not all business costs go down in direct proportion to lower sales - and heâs right.
Thatâs why some costs are actually sometimes called fixed costs - as opposed to variable costs!
Prices in cafes in rural Oxfordshire have doubled since 2019. For example⊠a can of coke at Millets garden centre cafe now £2.50. Likewise prices in pubs. Definitely not just a French or a metropolitan trend. Businesses have a lot of losses to make up for!
Iâve never been in a restaurant in France that squeezed in two sittings. I have experienced the brasserie style where service is continuous not the same as being given a time slot although this does seem to be a growing thing in the Former United Kingdom.
My parents ran a restaurant back in the sixties and seventies. They used to talk about two sittings. Or even three on Saturdays
Iâm entitled to my opinion.
you are the one who insulted me.
yes, its not unusual if your opening hours are long enough. like you said, it was your parents who ran it and probably worked bloody hard to make it a success instead of sitting back and relying on employees to do the job.
When I waited tables or acted as host in my exâs restaurant in Delaware there were at least three sittings and planning could be fairly involved.
There was the âearlybirdâ at 18h00, a turnaround at 19h30 and again at 21h00. Sometimes even a fourth sitting for late arrivals. The bar was always packed with people waiting on tables in the height of summer and it could be pretty stressful for both the host and the waiters.
âDrop the cheque on 21â, âoffer 18 free dessert and coffee on the terraceâ or âI need table 8 nowâ was typical vernacular.
Stressful but fond memories.
Well, I think the employees worked hard too. It was 60/70s, long time ago and different times but I donât think businesses are any less hard work now than they were.
Longtime lurker, first time poster, do I need L Plates or an A sticker 
So here we go again!
What a pleasure to see towns âopeningâ up again, people having coffee, other drinks and food outside places that have been closed for so long they though they would never re-open.
I have read a few posts where some people felt âit was the right thing to doâ by having a drink or a snack or meal somewhere that has re-opened.
We feel the same, we donât want the little village closest to us to become a ghost town with no baker, cafe or bar, nor do we wish it on any other village. So we stop where we can afford and we have a coffee and try to chat with a cheery outlook.
They donât know what problems we have faced and continue to face and we donât really know what they have faced and are going through.
But we do know this, a positive outlook cannot hurt.
If someone is not in a financial position to afford to eat and drink at places when they re-open or they feel they are being taken advantage of by the charging of higher prices, well thatâs their own situation and or point of view. And of course everyone is âentitledâ to their point of view
Therefore:- So here we go again - and long may it continue
Vive la France
Henri
Iâve been around the block a few times and times have changed, I donât think business owners on the whole are as dedicated as they used to be, in general they want to get rich quick, thatâs not how to run a business.
In the UK, perhaps, in France no way, it just isnât possible, things are soooo different running a business here, it costs a bloody fortune before youâve even earnt anything and as for employment law, theyâve got you by the short and curlies!
Why do you think the French have two hours for lunch?
Because it costs so much to employ staff that restaurants are run with as few staff as possible, often just a husband and wife and it takes time to get round to serving everyone.
You sound as though youâve had some bad experiences for which I sympathise, however, the business owners Iâve met (or worked with) have all been hard working and just trying to do the best they can in a world that can sometimes see a bit crazy.
Hi Henri,
I totally agree with your point of view and do the same.
But why should the state get to decide what we do on Sundays?
These rules about Sunday trading are biased in favour of the privilged who have 9-5 salaried work and enjoy the âfeelâ or âideaâ of enforced family time on Sundays. If youâre paid by the hour and need the extra work then Sundays are just as good as any other day. What about students who are in lessons during the week and might want to earn a bit of cash at the weekend? What about people who work irregular hours and might want to go shopping on Sunday because they canât on Saturday?
As for âfamily timeâ, I often spend Saturdays tearing around after my kids in pursuit of their various sporting activities (hence, family time) and then have an empty fridge on Sundays when I have more time but the supermarket is closedâŠ
Like many others here, I regret that people find hanging around malls to be a good leisure activity, but that should be their choice, not anybody elseâs. I totally agree that exercising, socialising etc are vital to good healthâŠjust donât want the state deciding for me when I should be doing it.
I kind of agree with you - the labour laws and culture around opening hours here drive me nuts.
But remember, thereâs never a âwrongâ price in this kind of situationâŠif the terrace is full at the prices on offer then they are the ârightâ prices. And the restaurant owners are free to set whatever prices they wantâŠwhile youâre just as free to do an about turn and spend your money on something else at their loss.