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The French have it right
THE French have a knack of doing things spot on. Their cheeses are to die for, their perfumes exquisite and their fashions lead the field when it comes to design.
I admit it. I am an unashamed Franco-phile.
Others may disagree but for me, Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and the French language pure music to the ears.
Just in case you think this column is being sponsored by the French tourist board, I have to say I am not keen on their cars and their sewer system pongs something rotten.
But you have to hand it to them – as a nation the French have a reputation for good living that is perhaps second to none.
That's why it came as no surprise to discover that they sleep more than their European neighbours (more than many parts of the world, come to that) and when they finally do get out of bed, they take longer over their food, spending up to two hours a day sitting down to eat.
Actually when you think of it, two hours a day eating (taking into account breakfast, lunch and an evening meal) does not really sound very much at all.
It just goes to show how the rest of the world rush their mealtimes.
The figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are based on surveys carried out in 18 countries.
Already it has been suggested (unkindly) that the French are not just relaxed (as they themselves claim) but that they are lazy.
Non, non, non! It's simply not true.
Surely it makes sense to sleep as long as you can. Doesn't it make for a sharper brain the following day?
And it is definitely more sensible to take longer with lunch.
This column has been written while eating lunch at my desk (as a result there are bits of lemon muffin now stuck between the gaps in my keyboard).
I am not alone in this practice. Too many of us bolt down a banana or devour a Danish pastry in minutes and call it lunch.
How many times do you hear someone say: "I'll just grab a sandwich..." What they mean is that after they've grabbed it, they'll gobble it down just as fast.
But how civilised to sit and take time over a nice ripe Camembert on a hunk of crusty baguette?
What the French have got exactly right is that eating is not a mere way of staving off hunger, it is a whole social pastime; an occasion to spend time with friends or family (the family that eats together stays together, after all.)
And so don't you think it's high time we took a lead from our neighbours across the Channel and had ourselves a little joie de vivre?
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Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
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