The French boulangerie is at the heart of the village, the source of all things nourishing. You get your daily bread here, but also a serving of gossip or news, local knowledge, the weather report, or directions if you’re passing through town.
But back to that in a minute. First I want to tell you about French banks. Which, compared with what we are used to, are completely bizarre. We call them The Banks with No Money.
We first learned of this when we went to our own bank to get a check cashed. “Oh no, Madame, we don’t cash checks here.” Hmm. What to do? In the end we had to deposit it in the ATM, then get some cash back, in several withdrawals. Well, OK, that works (as long as the pesky ATM is working).
Then we had friends who went in to deposit some cash in a friend’s account, as a favor to them. The bank wouldn’t deposit it. “But it’s cash!" they said. "We’re not asking for money. We’re giving you cash!” Nope, they wouldn’t take it. Our friends ended up depositing it into their own account, then writing a check to the bank for the same amount. That, it seemed, was OK.
Try to get a loan, and it gets even more more strange. When the bank look at your portfolio, they won’t count your stock holdings as assets. No, those are too unreliable, you must have a guaranteed income large enough to justify the loan. As Ron likes to say, Warren Buffet couldn’t get a loan approved in France (let it be said here that the US could learn something from this conservative stance—we seem to be at the opposite end of the spectrum, and it has not been a success).
We had friends in the above situation, plenty of assets but not full guaranteed, who tried to borrow 100,000€. They had much difficulty but the bank finally agreed. “We will give loan you 100,000€” they finally said. “But you must give us 85,000€ to hold in escrow for the life of the loan”. Note to bank: it's called a LOAN, which means you give the customer the money up front, not vice versa.
I was chatting with a French antique dealer one day and he explained it to me this way: “French bankers are thieves,” he said. “You can’t trust them at all.” Cynical for sure, but we began to wonder when our checks were suddenly all blocked, and people started calling us because our checks had been returned. We quickly call the banker. “Ah oui, Madame, we blocked your account because you lost your checkbook."
“But we haven’t lost our checkbook,” we told them.
“Ah yes, Madame, of course you have, that’s why we’ve blocked your account.”
“But we have our checkbook right here, it's sitting on the desk!"
“No madame, it’s lost.”
Exasperated, I asked, “Do you have some sort of documentation that we lost our checkbook? A letter, a phone call?”
“Mais non, Madame. But we are sure your checkbook is lost.” Needless to say, it took a while to get this sorted.
But here is the most curious aspect of French banking. One day I was in Macon, a good sized city, and I needed change for a 50€ bill, so I stopped into a bank.
“Madame, “ the teller sniffed, “we do not keep MONEY here.”
“But it’s a BANK," I said. "Surely you have 50€? And if not, where would I go to get change?”
“To get change” she said, “you should go to the boulangerie”.
Favorite Reads: I just finished Me Before You
Department of Miscellany: I had to share this photo. Look at what our friend Gerard made, after the lid of a teapot broke. The birds can nest inside, and you can fill the cup with food. Clever, n'est pas?
In a final note, our hearts go out to our friends in Orlando. Might we do like they do in France, and in Europe? Almost no one has guns (and you certainly couldn't buy an assault weapon legally if you were on a terrorist list), and there are almost no domestic shootings, gun accidents with children, or mass shootings, especially with legally purchased guns. As a result the murder rate is a fraction of what it is in the states. If only we could learn from them!
18 thoughts on “The Bank in the Boulangerie”
I don’t think I would like that type of banking Lynn. I just can’t even imagine how difficult that is. That little bird house/nest is adorable & yes quite clever.
A very strange banking system, indeed! Please let me recommend that you read more books by JoJo Moyes – all that I’ve read have been sooo good. Be sure to read “After You”. Also, “Last letter From Your Lover” and ” The Grl You Left Behind”. She does tell a good story!!
I have explained this over and over again to our American guests. They are always wanting to exchange their dollars at ‘a bank’. Thank goodness I have finally gotten the point across about traveler’s checks being a thing of the past. ATM’s are the answer and the Hyper U here has a high withdrawal limit. Great post…..am saving to share with guests! Merci Lynn!
This is correct. I am currently in France and I have a bank account in France. Cannot go to the counter , they have no funds in there so have to go to the ATM however I am allowed only 300 euros withdrawal per week! I am sure there is a reason. I will ask my advisor next week.
Just wait until you try to close an account and switch banks. It cost us about 150 euros and took 1.5 years just to close an account with no money! It’s amazing – they refuse to follow written, signed instructions when they feel like it.
You must be the second to last person because I haven’t read it yet! 😉 It’s on my list. But I’m currently reading a bunch of Quebecois books before my first trip there.
I agree with everything you have said about banks. So confusing. I have located in Dijon what I think is the only branch of our bank that deals in actual money because sometimes we do need to deal with cash (deposit or withdraw more than the ATM allows). One thing that drives me crazy is that the ATMs are ALWAYS distributing 50euro bills. That means that I have to go from the machine straight into the Monoprix where I buy a box of tissues or something because I know they can deliver change for a fifty. Then I head on to the market where I use cash at the stalls.
So far I have not found any supermarket (large or small) that lets me get cash with my purchase like I do in the States. I don’t know if I need a special card to allow that, but it would be so great if I could grab a quick 20 euro instead of search for a cash machine.
Finally, if I have the smallest question to ask regarding my French account, I always have to make a formal appointment with MY banker. Aaaaargh! I can’t just walk into any nearby branch and get a simple answer by someone sitting at an information desk. Don’t the French know that in the rest of the world there are much easier ways to do many things that they consider “c’est normale”?
OMG, this was great. I also live in France, for several years in the Languedoc, and now in Provence. I could not believe that banks did not give you money, take money, or give you a loan! But its true! When I needed cash to pay workers, I had to go through a complicated process of signing paperwork, getting a temporary ATM card (not my regular one) and use it to get cash in €300 increments from the cash machine. To open my account, I needed a utility bill. Not a Visa, or a passport, or some kind of “real” identification, but a utility bill showing that I lived in a certain address. I ended up having friends go with me to get the account, who were clients of the bank, and I used their address. He was a highly placed French government employee with a Legion of Honor or I probably would not have gotten it! But hey, its France, and we love it.
Amazing! Thanks for keeping us up to date on “all things French.” This story sounds like good material for a comedian!
We all share your interests in food, gardening , travel and reading. How about a blog about French books and authors that are in English. I especially like the books of Joanne Harris and Irene Nemirovsky. My favorite is Delicacy by David Foenkinos. This was made into a movie strarring Audrey Tautou. Another good book was The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher.
Thank you for keeping us informed.
Lynn, your post today had me alternately laughing,yelling in frustration,and finally,
determined to cease complaining about our banking glitches here!
Thank you for once again making our Fridays with SFF something we all so look forward to!!!
Lynn,
This post about French banks is hilarious – I shared it with my fellow board directors at a publicly traded California bank. I think they must be falling off their chairs, as I did. Merci!
Michaela
A breath of fresh air (or humor) to contrast with the dour mood here in the US. As always, Lynn, you touch my funny bone. Now how does that translate? Petit juif? How can that be?
It’s hard to believe we have never met. And I expect there are many of your readers who feel the same way. You are able to transmit a familiarity that perhaps only a southerner can. I, as it happens, am a native New Englander. But since I’m now a Californian, I’m much less Puritan than “laid back.”
Let us know when you’ve figured out the banking system.
Do many French banks still allow Americans to have accounts with them, since the American FATCA law has imposed so many reporting requirements on banks outside the U.S. regarding such accounts?
Wonderful items about French banking!
Jojo Moyes has a new sequel to the one you love, After You, which you will love, I’m sure.
Love the Bird House! Love it!! And the banking facts are dead on! If you want to waste a perfectly good hour, go to a French bank!!
Hope to see you soon! Alix
Oh, the joys of French banking! You pretty much hit the nail on the head with this post. I remember when I studied aboard in Caen and went to the bank asking for change and they told me the same thing: they don’t have money to make change! This was my first encounter in a French bank and I have never forgotten it.
Oh Lynn, This is too hilarious!! The stories we could all tell about the French Banks. You have done a fabulous job here. Thank you!!