Four French bakers in the south west have fallen foul of France’s strict laws on opening times by selling their baguettes every day of the week. They say they will now have to lay off staff. The bakers (boulangers) in the Landes department of south-western France had flouted the law by opening every day of the week. To those from outside France that may seem like an obvious move for a shop, but opening seven days week meant the bakers were flouting France’s strict laws on opening times for artisan trades.A decree dating back to 1999 states that the boulangeries must close on at least one day. A court in Dax handed out €500 fines on Monday and told the bakers to fall in line with the rules, if they hadn’t already. Val says what madness. There are people wanting bread and people happy to make it... but we are talking about France here. Instead of fining the baker give a medal for delivering what the customer wants.
