The long summer begins

Almost all my neighbors have left Paris for the summer. There are no more children in this neighborhood, no more old people or retirees. The grand old French tradition of long summer vacations is still going strong. Children are sent off to the country, the beach or the mountains for the whole summer, preferably with Mamie (Grannie). The Parisians who are still here working have slowed their pace and changed their way of dress, and anyone in formal clothes or with lots of makeup on is certainly a tourist.

Our almost empty building, though, is not quiet, but noisy with drilling and hammering from morning to night, because everyone tries to have repairs done in the summer when the weather is nice and the neighbors are not there to complain. The concierge is cross because she has to stay all during the month of August to surveiller the workmen.

It is easy to park again. In August, it's even free because the meter maids are on vacation. All the small local stores close in August. Since the weekend when the last schools got out, the summer emptiness has started in Paris.