Veuillez Patienter.

So the other night...Sunday night to be precise, I went to see a movie. It was called 99 Francs it's an adaptation of a book I picked up a couple of weeks ago. The movie was good. It was a bit heavy but in a sort of lighthearted way. It was about how advertising is destroying our lives, a topic that sort of lends itself to being both lighthearted and heavy at the same time. The process of going to a movie was as interesting, though, as the movie itself. First we went and got our tickets that was rather normal. After that everything worked differently though. Firstly they didn't have a food counter just one person with some chocolate bars, a popcorn machine and vending machines. It quickly became apparent why, these were concessions offered up to make foreigners feel comfortable. In fact they ask that you not eat or drink or smoke (which is exceptional you can smoke anywhere here) in the theatre. There were two other surprises. The bathrooms for the the theatre are actually in the theatre. Not off the lobby or outside but right there beside all the seats. Which is a problem due to the next unique character of french movie theatres. The last thing that was surprising, your movie starts at 18h10, like it says on the ticket and the program. The movie prior ends at 18h09...18h05 at the earliest. The cinematic experience is an efficient one. So to go to the bathroom you have about half a minute before the movie or afterwards. Admittedly the commercials prior to the feature presentation are awful...so bad. Worse even than that Snickers one set in the middle-ages.