Je suis rentrée, mais les boulangers sont partis!

After being away for the weekend, I finally braved the cold drizzle to do a little grocery shopping.  Since I live in a place where one is constantly being lurred down the street by the smell of fresh baking, I don't usually buy my bread at the grocery store.  Why settle? There's a bakery every couple of blocks.  Except?  When France goes on vacation!  Market failure?  How is it that all three boulangeries within a half a mile of my apartment are closed at exactly the same time?  The one across from the metro and at Monoprix were probably open, but I had just done my shopping at Franprix (right around the corner from me) because I had planned on going to my favorite boulangerie (just down the street from Franprix) since its typical day of "fermature" is Tuesday (today is Monday).  Finally, after walking down the Avenue General de Gaulle in both directions and passing all of the closed shops (not just the bakery, but also the cheese shops and butcheries), I finally stopped in at the Kosher café, Le Piment rouge ("the red pepper").  Slightly exasperated and seeing that they make and sell sandwiches, I greeted the young woman behind the counter with a "Bonjour. Vous vendez du pain?" (Do you guys sell bread?) Eh, oui!  Enfin!  I wonder if they sold a lot of bread today, or if everyone else, more up to date than me, just bought their loaf or baguette at the grocery store, with the knowledge that all of the bakeries in the neighborhood were closed.  Hmmm...