The ORIGINAL Sunday rule was indeed due to religion, but just because people used to work 6 days a week and Sunday was the only day off as a concession to the church. But you are correct, PalenQ -- religious service attendance is indeed only 8% in France, and this goes for the Muslim and Protestant population as well. Apparently the Jewish population of France has a giant 10% synagogue attendance.

I'm as big a fan of hypermarchés as anyone, but when oh when are the French going to learn to engineer a shopping cart that turns properly?

If they can build the Millau bridge, how come they can't get something as simple as a shopping cart right?

What's wrong with your shopping cart? When I get a defective one, I just trade it in for one that rolls properly.

Perhaps you are using one of the new electronic ones whose wheels block if you try to go beyond the parking lot?

Ok, dumb question of the day:

Do you need a membership card to get inside?

No not for any hypermarches in France i know of - but more and more are going to a Carrefour card like we have in U.S. to get the advertised discounts. These are free i think but the average tourist won't bother with one and pay more at times.

Kerouac - do you know if it's true that hypermarches can't sell things under cost as i've heard - no loss leaders to get folks in the store?

kerouac, StCirq is doubtless talking about the carts where all four wheels swivel. Someone had to think very hard to come up with such an inept design.

Anselm

Exactly, Anselm. I've never been in a supermarket in France that didn't have them. It's impossible to make a tight turn in them, and in the parking lot it's like bumper cars.

I am trying to imagine what you are talking about and I can't.
I have used shopping carts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, France, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Tahiti -- those are the countries that I can think of -- and I have never noticed any difference in handling. What am I missing?

Hmmm, I wonder whether StCirq and I are the only ones who have ever noticed? I can't vouch for every shopping cart (or trolley) in France, but I have intimate knowledge of the carts at the Carrefours in Uzes and Issoire and the Leclercs in Apt and Castlenaudry (I think I may have just spelled that incorrectly). On those carts all four wheels swivel. At my local Super Store or Sobeys in Canada, only the front wheels swivel. These carts can be turned easily, but the back end never attempts to go sideways.

Here's hoping more than two of us have ever noticed ...

Anselm

Is there a Hypermarche in Nice or only in the Paris area? I want to go to one.

Sunday closings remain the law only because of labor unions, even though both employers and employees generally are willing to work on Sunday.

There was a famous case years ago with IKEA in which the store remained open on Sunday and just paid the fines, because it made so much more money on Sundays (30% of the weekly sales, IIRC), that it turned a profit even with fines. The Sunday employees were volunteers and were paid extra for Sunday work. But then the unions went to court to force the store to close and succeeded. So the store laid off the Sunday staff, since it no longer had work enough for them. What a great union, eh?

The law allows "cultural" venues to remain open on Sunday, in certain cases. Stores profit from this by putting tiny "exhibitions" of art or just about anything in some small corner of the store. They are then allowed to keep the entire store open on Sunday. Works very well, and since nobody but the unions really opposes Sunday openings, anyway, little attempt is made to stop it.

Ikea is still open every Sunday.

Scatcat, hypermarkets are everywhere in France. Plenty in the area of Nice.

kerouac:

Thanks, I will find one while I'm in Nice in May. I love to check out the grocery markets in different countries.

I believe Carrefour is the largest in the world, with Walmart 2nd - at least that what my macro/microeconomic book said last year.

Wal-Mart is a bigger company than Carrefour, but Carrefour has greater international presence than Wal-Mart.

I would assume that that is what is being referred to in the book.

Book is wrong or outdated as i've seen numerous listings of the world's largest retailer and WalMart is always listed first and Carrefour 2nd. May have been different few years ago as i believe WalMart is expanding much more than Carrefour.

And as articles i've read Carrefour is indeed in a very competitive market in France itself, where it's market share has been nibbled at by competitors and even foreign discounters like Aldi.

Hmmm, kerouac. That's kind of amazing you've never noticed the impossible-to-steer French carts, but I guess we must travel in different LeClerc circles :)

I've been griping about them for more than 15 years! Included mention of them in numerous trip reports, even. About 5 years ago the Intermarché in Le Bugue did a major renovation, including bringing in new carts, and I thought "Finally, there will be steerable carts!" No such luck. The new ones were just bright, shiny, bigger replicas of old mind-of-their own carts.

The shopping-cart-mystery; I haven't seen one of those four-wheel-steering-carts either...... Not in France, not in the Netherlands, not every where else in the world.....
I always thought that all shopping-carts were more or less alike...sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller, sometimes steel, sometimes plastic (or what looks like plastic!).

I shall pay better attention next time I am shopping at a hypermarche in France!

I don't think Ikea is open on Sundays outside of the Ile de France region.