Work More to Earn Less: France's New Revolution
The outrage is a little overdone. Knocking off two public holidays would leave the French with nine, which looks positively Germanic — until you add their 25 paid vacation days, which gets France in almost the same ballpark as Spain. (And no need to mention the extra days that many private-sector workers get for working more than 35 hours.) And while there's been plenty of gnashing of teeth at Bayrou's description of the month of May as 'gruyere' cheese — full of holes — it's kind of true. France is a place where the calendar is a Sudoku puzzle to find the ideal combo of holidays and vacation; this year, it's been possible to strategically place five days' vacation and get 32 days off.
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