Page 41 - E-module IC Reading

Individual Note Making and Rewriting

Following is a habit description of Sunday in France when most shops are closed. Read it and
guess the meaning of the unfamiliar words from the context.

Sunday in France when most shops are closed

The standard shopping day in France, from Monday to Saturday, starts at 9 a.m.
and finishes at 7 p.m. Most large stores and shopping malls will remain open all day,
with some outlets in them opening earlier and closing later. Most traditional shops,
specially in smaller towns, will close for two hours at lunch time, from 12.00 to 2
p.m.. Some will close for longer, especially those that remain open longer in the
evening. [1]
Many small and independent shops are closed on Monday morning, some stay
closed all day on Mondays, notably those that have been open all day on Saturday.
Opening patterns may depend on the town, though decisions remain ultimately with
individual shops.[2]

Don't expect to find shops open in France on Sundays. Sunday in France is still
for most people a day of rest, and most shops are not allowed to open, except in
specific locations at certain times of the year. Sunday is a day for window shopping in
French towns, for most of the year. Large shops are now allowed to open on Sundays
in tourist resorts (including parts of Paris) in the holiday period (which in Paris
means all year); elsewhere, in the cities, Sunday opening is only allowed on a limited
number of Sundays in the run-up to Christmas. [3]

Nonetheless, small corner shops and essential services (such as boulangeries, and
small supermarkets) can open on Sundays if they want to, and indeed Sunday is the
busiest day of the week for many patisseries. So in any town, it is usually now possible
to buy fresh bread and groceries on a Sunday, particularly on Sunday morning. In
recent years, French shops and shoppers have been increasingly demanding more
freedom to open on Sundays. Since 2015, shops have been given more freedom to
open on Sundays – notably garden centers furniture stores, and shops in tourist
areas. [4]

(319 words, adapted from https://about-france.com/holidays-
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sundays.htm)