Day 3312 (Friday) 3rd July 2026

Happy birthday Huw.

He always tells me to ignore his birthday but we give the same card to each other every year – we’ll go to Le Phare later and lift a glass to him.  

Our flat is above this restaurant – I have no idea when these photos  were taken but they look pretty old.

This is the restaurant near the beach.

Here are the rest of the odd French laws…

16. Hungry? Please leave the office

That’s right, it’s illegal to eat in your office or factory (unless a Labour Inspector says it’s all right).

Article R4228-19 of the Labour Code wants to make sure you leave your desk at lunchtime. Remember, the French have the longest lunch hours and with France’s gastronomic meal now protected by UNESCO, lunch is no laughing matter.

17. Ze show must go on

As with a similar law in Quebec to safeguard French culture, France has a cap on foreign music. A 1994 law, called the Loi Toubon after the minister who enacted it, set a French music quota forced French radio stations to make sure at least 40% of the music they aired was French. The move, combined with French copyright law, has been a creative stimulus for French artists.

Controversial when it was passed in, Law 94-665, as it is also known, now enjoys widespread support. 

Its reach goes far beyond music. By favouring French over English creep, it has made sure all basic information is available in French, from work contracts with foreign multinationals to French language instruction manuals.

18. Want to mow your lawn on Sunday afternoon? That’s a no-no

This one is familiar to me, because the rules are relatively strictly enforced where I live, at least for everyday citizens (farmers can reap at any hour).

Sunday mornings, on the other hand, are fair game, which seems a little counterintuitive. After all, isn’t Sunday morning a day to sleep in? Do you really want your sleep shattered by a lawnmower?

According to France’s National Noise Council, you can go ahead and run your drill or mix your cement at very specific hours in the morning and afternoon from Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays and holidays, mornings only.

19. Then there's the case of the Eiffel Tower at night

It’s true, but it’s rarely enforced: those 20,000 glittering night lights are considered art, and as such, are protected by copyright. Legally, you need permission to publish photos of the Eiffel Tower at night.

In practice, the Eiffel police would be kept awfully busy if enforced.

But if you want to take pictures to show your family back home, then snap away!

And a multitude of unusual laws in every sphere of life

I haven't found references for these, but I'm assured they exist. They certainly sound as though they could.

A ban on ketchup in school cafeterias in line with healthy eating.

You cannot photograph police vehicles (but you can photograph police at work, for editorial reasons) or disseminate the photos on social media (I've found conflicting references for this particular one so take it with a grain of salt)

Religious laws, which cover everything from Christian veils to burkini bans (all these are constantly in the news)

Unusual French laws for special or local circumstances

Sometimes, a mayor or local or regional authority might pass a law which applies to its own community but would make little sense beyond. Here are a few of those…

Several towns scattered across France have made it illegal to die in town. There simply isn’t enough room in the local cemetery.

UFOs are banned in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, known more for its wine than its aliens. This stems from a 1954 sighting which prompted the then mayor to forbid flying saucers from landing within the town limits or face immediate confiscation. Clearly it worked, and not a single flying saucer has landed in town in all those years.

Since 1999, the town of Sainte-Gemmes-sur-Loire in northern France near Nantes has set aside free parking for Santa’s reindeer. This law is still in effect.

Following local and town hall complaints, the mayor of Briollay in the Loire Valley has forbidden mosquitoes on its territory. So far, no one has informed the mosquitoes.

I love this one: the southwestern town of Essarts-en-Bocage, in an effort to promote its “Joyous Town” festival, has passed a law compelling citizens to be in a good mood between 8am and 10pm every day, and to make at least 10 people smile the week of the festival.

French railway rules charge domesticated animals for the ride, and each requires its own ticket. Including snails, apparently. What isn't clear is whether each snail requires an individual ticket or if it's one ticket for the entire cluster.

And there are plenty more… like the beach town that banned sandcastles.

Clearly, the weird laws list isn’t going anywhere soon.

Clearly, France has its fair share of weird laws. The good news is that some of them are being repealed.

For example, a 200-year-old law forbidding women to wear trousers in Paris was on the books as late as 2013, although exceptions would be made in certain circumstances, for example when riding a horse. Women's rights and gender equality can be slow.

And potatoes were apparently illegal in France during the 18th century, as they were believed to be poisonous and to carry disease.

Thankfully for French Fries and fashion, legislators saw the light.

Efforts have been afoot to sweep away obsolete or ridiculous laws, some of which have been around for centuries and need a dust-off. The commission created to undertake this work has a rather unfortunate acronym… BALAI, which means broom in French.

And there’s a principle in France whereby ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.

So if you happen to have run out of hay at home or unwittingly stepped out of the shower soaking wet and naked, you can still be punished.

Just don’t fret. The police have better things to do.