French word of the day: La baguette
Published: 13 March 2025
There’s a lot of stuff going on the in the world these days…so I decided we should ignore all the noise and talk about…bread.
Because who doesn’t love a good loaf of bread? (Apologies to all the gluten-free folk, but we need something at the moment!)
Anyway, the humble baguette is making headlines in France this week, because a report came out saying that “young people and families today” are no longer buying their baguettes at the boulangerie (bakery).
Yes, sadly that stereotype of a Frenchman with a baguette under his arm and a beret on his head is no longer the norm.
Anyway, the humble baguette is making headlines in France this week, because a report came out saying that “young people and families today” are no longer buying baguettes at the boulangerie (bakery).
Yes, that stereotype of a Frenchman with a baguette under his arm and a beret on his head is no longer the norm.
No more stopping by the boulangerie on a daily basis to buy that fresh baguette, they are buying industrially-produced sliced bread that lasts a week or more.
(Trust me, 2 day old baguette isn’t great, although you could get away with nuking it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Look away now if you find this scandalous!)
To make matters worse, there is a new tax on bread that came into effect on January 1, 2025, raising the ire of boulangers across the country. (It wouldn’t be France if there was not a new tax introduced on something every week.)
To calculate the new tax, “the baker has to count the number of paper bags that the baguettes and pastries are wrapped in per customer, and submit a tax.” The idea is to reduce paper, but with each boulangerie estimated to pay an additional €1500/year, the amount of accounting required here is going to exceed the collected tax revenue. (I say this as a trained accountant.)
As you can imagine, the boulangers are not happy that in addition to the accounting, the price per baguette is going to go up, discouraging even more customers.
To add to the drama, an earlier report last week came out noting that more than half of the people who shop at the weekly farmer’s market are over 60 years old. In other words, it is mostly older retired people who have time (and money) to head to the market to buy fresh fruit, veggies, fish, meats, etc. along with that aforementioned daily baguette.
So even in France, this particular French way of life is disappearing. If young people don’t develop the marché habit now, will they go to the market later?
And I would say that these reports are anecdotally accurate. I remember years ago being surprised because a 30-year-old French cousin got his parents a bread machine as a Christmas gift when there was a boulangerie down the street.
But the gift was given with love, on the premise that this would help his parents avoid the necessity of a daily trip. However, spoiler update: his retired parents love going to the boulangerie and the marché. It is part of their daily exercise routine, a reason to walk up the hill to the shops, buy food for the day and then head back home. No need for fancy machines at a gym! (Or a bread machine.)
So how to the rest of us find time to fit the marché into our schedule? (No, the French do not work only 35 hours a week, long hours are the norm for a lot of professions here as well.)
No answers here, we can only cross our fingers and hope for the best we can.
As for that gifted bread machine, it has become like those ‘traveling pair of pants’. After 10 years of being passed around unused, it has now ended up in a cabinet in my kitchen.
In other news:
- Institut national de la statistique (INSEE) notes that only 30 % Parisians are born in Paris.
- Considered one of the most beautiful bibles in the world, a French bible dating back to 830-840AD from the city of Tours, is now going to be displayed for 3 months in the Swiss city of Delémont. It weighs in at a whopping 48.5 lbs (22 kg) and is usually kept at the British Library in London, if you happen to be in either city.
- Middle schools for 11 to 14 year-olds on the French island of Corsica are going to have 16 hours of anti-mafia classes to fight against organized crime. Apparently this is inspired by similar classes in Italy.
And in the blog:
Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg in Alsace
Explore the rich history of Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, a medieval fortress in the heart of Alsace.
Chicken and Mushroom pie (Tourte au poulet)
Based on the French classic tourte au poulet, this delicious chicken and mushroom pie makes a hearty dinner everyone will love.
Smoked salmon quesadilla in sour cream sauce
Prepared in 15 minutes, this smoked salmon quesadilla with cheese, greens and homemade cream sauce is so good you will want it breakfast, lunch, and dinner.