The thought of a Parisian bakery (or boulangerie, as the French would say) without stacks of freshly baked baguettes seems incomprehensible for many. The humble loaf of bread is a ubiquitous sight across the city, almost as iconic as the Eiffel Tower itself. However new labor legislation recently passed by the French government has thrown the city into a baguette shortage, as many of the French capital's bakers have taken the summer off.
According to Quartz, since the French Revolution in 1790 Parisian bakeries have been required by the government to go on staggered vacation leaves. The law mandated that half of the city's thousand plus bakeries be open in the summer months of July and August. That law was abolished this year however, resulting in shortages of the staple bread.
The Telegraph has first-hand accounts from residents of the city claiming that bread is indeed harder to come by these days. A Parisian by the name of Anthony Stephinson has resorted to purchasing 'half-cooked' supermarket baguettes and baking them at home. While another, Lynn Segal, says the two closest bakeries she frequents were closed.
Remi Heluin, a food blogger and founder of Painrisien, a website about bakeries in the city says that:
"Parisians are in a grotesque situation, many of the artisanal bakers have decided to close at the same time, and there has been a total lack of co-ordination."
Heluin estimates that two-thirds of the city's bakeries have shuttered for the month of August, which has left certain districts starving for the taste of freshly baked baguettes.
Some have brushed off the recent news as nothing but an exaggeration. Quartz's article cites this piece from liberation, which labels the 'baguette crisis' as nothing more than a story drummed up by members of the British media.
