I forgot to buy toilet paper. It was one of my first Sundays in Paris and I had forgotten to buy more toilet paper. I quickly ran to the store to find that it was closed. I then walked to the next three closest stores and everything was closed! I texted my friends and asked them what to do. They said that it would be hard to find a grocery store that was open on Sunday, so they offered to give me toilet paper for the time being. As I continued to walk down my street, there were people at a cafe, people buying baguettes, and people buying flowers, and that was it! Everyone seemed more joyful, less stressed, and moved at a slower pace than normal simply because they could. It was Sunday, and they had no other place to be.
I wasn't a chef when I came to Paris. I still am not a chef, but my cooking is at least decent now. During my first few weeks here I would eat out more than usual because I only knew so many recipes. Each Sunday I would take the time to walk around my area of town until I stumbled upon a new cafe. When it is nice outside in Paris, it seems that everyone is lounging outside of a cafe. The tradition of everything being closed on Sundays does not always apply to cafes; in fact, cafes are normally the only places that are open on Sundays.
