The 35 hour week

Now that we have a new president (M Hollande and not M Sarkozy) we can all breath a sigh of relief and assume our working week is again safe. You see it was M Sarkozy who was proposing to make France more competitive and that involved relaxing the rules on the working hours each week. Here in France it is, and will probably stay, illegal to force people to do more than 35 hours a week. It was M Hollande's party that brought it in and M Hollande is sure to champion it!

The park over our garden hedge

So the notice on the gate to our park says "closed each day at 19:00". And during the week, it is. But, as a passing gendarme explained to me, it is not so at the weekend.
One day we arrived home at midnight. It was a hot evening and we opened the window only to find there were a group of youths chatting in the park. They were not being bad but they were having fun loudly late at night. In order to sleep we shut the window.
So we went to see the agent for the house. "What can we do?" we asked. "Can we get the Marie to change things?" She threw up her hands in horror! Not a chance it seams, the Marie is democratic and this is France. It would have to go to committee, you would need a petition, it would take ages even if you were successful; which is unlikely. But we did agree that we could ask for the notice on the gate to be actioned - after all that would not be a change!
As suggested by our friendly agent, I visited the Marie after work that Tuesday. The receptionist patiently listened to my request and sent me to the mayor's secretary. The mayor's secretary was very sympathetic and suggested the officer for security should be approached. He is available Mondays from 17:00 to 18:00.
I planned a visit the following week. As we waited June and I debated the reasons for the unwritten exceptions. Did they forget? Was he ill? - but this would not explain why the gendarme thought it was normal. Perhaps it was his time off each week?
So today I have been to see the security officer. He was not there but a small lady, an exact reincarnation of Edith Piaf, was there, and very helpful she was too. She proposed that the officer for security was not the right person, he being concerned with buildings and not parks. She proposed the gendarmerie. And she rang them.
Then, having explained the position as best she could she handed the phone to me. The man on the other end was very nice. He explained that the man who shuts the gates does not work weekends or holidays and that's why it was open. You see, he works a 35 hour week too. I explained that the weekend is when the problems occur, so he kindly suggested I simply phone the gendarmes when it happens. Dial 17. So I will.
I thanked Edith (actually I heard her say she was 'Elizabeth'), and she asked me how I got in. "The door was open" I explained. It appears it is normally shut as there is no reception Mondays (35 hour week) so how did I know where to go? I explained my visit last Tuesday. As I said to June, it has taken a week but we are making progress!