There are no Ferraris in Metz..

August is a strange time in France - everyone goes on holiday for the month..

I took my car into the local garage for repairs on Tuesday, only to be warned that if they couldn't fix it by Friday - it would be September before I got it back...

As it is most businesses don't open up until 10.00 am on a Monday, on Sunday everything is closed and they still find time for a two hour lunch break from 12.00 until 2.00pm...
We moved here about 18 months ago from Las Vegas in the USA - which is about as far as you can get culturally from rural France. In Vegas, everything is open 24 Hrs a day, the casinos never close, and just about anything can be driven through or delivered to your home or hotel room.
So what..?
In Las Vegas we lived in a gated community with cameras, security guards and  high walls to protect us, guns were in easy circulation and a search on the web revealed just how many convicted criminals lived in close proximity. Vegas is a tranisent city with great spirit but no heart; it is the American Dream on megawatt life support where alcohol fuelled highs are more than matched by acidic black jack and roulette induced desperation. Note - the casinos always win in the end...

The French do things differently, there are no guns, no cameras, and drugs are what you take when you have a headache. There is a value put on family community and quality of life - no one cares what car you drive, there are no Ferraris in Metz. What counts is lifestyle, choosing to take lunch, taking the month off, spending time with family and friends - no one actually needs 24hr shopping; I still can't remember who voted for that in the first place. Miraculously, we somehow manage to survive with the shops only open 6 days a week...

So what are you living the Vegas life or the Metz life - are you letting the glamour and the glitz dazzle your path to happiness, are you working 90 hours a week because you think it's how it has to be, are you substituting your real life with a fragile synthetic veneer of material acquisitions?

Metaphorically, everyone should holiday in Las Vegas and experience the energy, passion, fun and the endless possibilities. However, everyone should remember that in reality they need to live in France...

I wonder if that is where all the French go in August...?