We’d been visiting regularly for over 25 years before we moved here, so we were well acclimatised to the 12h-14h routine, which we always did and still do think is a wonderful expression of French culture.
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I feel its more a southern habit. Alsace/Jura has much shorter lunchbreaks. And not all shops close.
But adjusted our lifes timings to the french lifestyle. Small breakfast, long lunch, late dinner. Sometimes I revert to thd old days and skip lunch in order to go get supplies. Love empty stores!
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Thirty years ago my first week-end living in S Africa was a bit expensive because I rolled into town around midday on Saturday to buy my week-end groceries, only to find that everything had closed until Monday morning.
By contrast, we’ve been living in France long enough to appreciate the 12-14hrs break and are happy to live in that system.
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It’s the same in Portugal.
We got used to not being able to eat before 2pm. Then, just over the border, 12-14h strictly observed!
One of our camping holidays had us arriving on a Sunday morning, only to find no shops open at all in the area. Can’t remember how we managed that with small children.
And in France, at least around here, all the restos are fully booked for Sunday lunch and then don’t open again until Tuesday…
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Not so bad here - near the lakes of haute charente. Beach restaurants and village fetes provide plenty of eating & drinkjng opportunities
And nowadays a pizza vending machine every kilometer…
Has anyone ever tried one of these. Sounds awful. I prefer home made pizza but if I do have to buy one, it’s Domino Pizzas for us.
We did during a kitchen refit and no oven/hob. It was eatable, can’t really say much else 