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Parisians all get sick of Paris after a while.
So they regularly choose to leave the city for a few days.
Those expeditions are called ptits weekends.
Le weekend is Saturday and Sunday. And it takes place in Paris.
Le ptit weekend is those two days for sure, plus potentially one or two before or after. And it takes place somewhere outside Paris.
The destination and frequency of the ptits weekends depend on the Parisian.
It is important to realize that in the Parisian’s mind, le ptit weekend is not a luxury or a treat. It is a necessity. A need he feels deep inside his body. A sound door to escape momentarily the oppression of the big, fast and loud city: “J’en peux plus, faut que je parte m’aérer, tu veux pas qu’on se fasse un ptit weekend?”
Le ptit weekend can take place in the Parisian family house, in Normandy, in Brittany, in Burgundy or in the South. But le ptit weekend being utterly cool and stress-free a concept, it can not happen with too much family around (anyone having a family knows that spending the weekend with the fam is neither cool nor stress-free): “Mes parents sont au Maroc, on peut se faire un ptit weekend chez moi en Sologne si tu veux“.
But usually, le ptit weekend serves another purpose: that of allowing the Parisian to brag at work the following week. Bragging implies sunshine (le Sud), or gentle dépaysement. Being very wise, the Parisian usually looks for dépaysement in another big European capital.
Needless to say there is an unwritten ranking of coolness in big European cities. Top ranking cities are Barcelona, Berlin and London. Maximum bragging.
For un ptit weekend en amoureux (romantic declination of the ptit weekend), high points go to Prague, Vienna and Budapest. For Parisiens, Eastern European capitals are considered the utmost destinations for un ptit weekend entre potes (let’s-get-drunk-and-act-out-for-a-weekend – away-from-the-girlfriends sort of deal).
Eastern European capitals make Parisiennes worried.
Un ptit weekend outside Europe or au ski is also an option.
But sends the clear message than money is not a problem.
Mention of such weekends shall only be made in the appropriate circles.
When asked how his ptit weekend was. The Parisian only has two adjectives in mind: super and excellent. Ptit weekends are never anything but that. Sometimes they are also crevant.
In all cases, the Parisian is happy to share that “ça m’a trop fait du bien de partir un peu“.
Well-being and coolness being addictive, the Parisian prefers to experience them only by injections.
Two or three-day ones ideally.
Useful tip: If you wish to see your Parisian friends in April, May and June, let them know early. Major ptit weekend season !
Sound like a Parisian: « Non, mais sérieux, Budapest, avec Easyjet, ca coûte vraiment que dalle… tu devrais trop le faire »
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well, if Frenchmen do as Brits in Prague, a Parisian girlfriend would never let her man go with his potes..:) Even though, obviously, Prague is not in Eastern Europe:)
Ruth… Yes, you may, of course!! Perfect is probably way too much but merci – glad this resonates in you.
Lin… Ha! I like to believe groups of Frenchmen are a little more civilized than groups of Britons. But all in all, they remain groups of guys! Sounds like you’d have funny stories to tell!
Olivier (may I call you Olivier?),
This one is perfect! I loved it. I can see it, feel it, hear it–
Ruth
funny? maybe…:) You are right, Frenchmen tend to be more civilized…
A “p’tit week-end de 3 jours” is already a “vacation” in the USA. When I arrived in NYC, I used to talk about “long weekend” when we were leaving the city for 3 or 4 days but I quickly understood 3 or 4 days was already a “vacation”. And once one colleague was telling me she was taking a vacation, I asked her “how many weeks” and she answered me “4 days”. Oups … I was not yet used to our 10 days of vacation. But now I know my 3 or 4 weeks (I even took 5 once) of vacation in summer is only a dream
I would be glad if I can do some relaxing moments there. Thinking when would be a perfect time. hahaha!
Lin… Thank you, we Frenchmen need reassurance after the devastating loss to England on Sunday. (that’s rugby).
Séverine… Yeah, I think in France ‘vacances’ start with at least a week off. Upto 4 days off is a ptit weekend . 5 would be a ‘long weekend’. 6 would be ‘un ptit break’!
And at the moment of the brag, idealy you have to throw in “le detail qui tue”. The colleagues/ friends have to be jealous! (Which incidently works two ways… if they’re not, they might find that they are not colleagues/ friends for very long either… haha!!)
C’est bien ne pas travailler pendant le weekend…
“Eastern European capitals make Parisiennes worried”? Elles devraient alors voyager dans les grands groupes..
Jost… Neglectfully, always neglectfully…
JB… Un ptit weekend is always with three or four friends max. No groups!! It’s nothing special after all… neglectfully I was saying
Olivier, I am so enjoying your blog. I look forward to every new entry because I know it will make me smile. But it also makes me worry because it seems the only people who love Paris are people who are not from Paris. Is this true?
Olivier, does this post mean you’ve got a recent p’tit weekend you’re dying to tell us about?
Cheryl… I’m glad you like my blog. But it shouldn’t be a reason for you to worry, really. All Parisians have a love hate relationship with their city. But same goes for anyone living in a big city. I guess it’s like relationships: Paris is our wife; but she’s your mistress.
Jessica… ha! Well, this blog really isn’t about me. But I just recently made a decision: that of no longer working 6 days a week so that I too can indulge in some of these p’tits weekends. I’m a Parisian after all!
Hmmm… something to look forward to with my new Parisian friend, maybe?
I absolutely adore the useful tip. So very bien vu.
Barbra… Well, I see no reason why not, yeah!
Now go make some calls!
Noodle… Merci
Paris and London are two excellent places. In fact, they are two of my favorite places, so I can understand why Parisians love London. I do know that Parisians know how to enjoy their vacations, and they respect their vacation time. Americans do not know how to relax like Parisans do.
And at the moment of the brag, idealy you have to throw in “le detail qui tue”. The colleagues/ friends have to be jealous! (Which incidently works two ways… if they’re not, they might find that they are not colleagues/ friends for very long either
Maybe Parisians all get sick of Paris in time, but we that don’t live in Paris, would really like to come in Paris and “get sick of it”
Love the stress-free concept at all! I myself have not been in Paris at all (but I’ve always wanted to be in Paris). That’s why sometimes I don’t understand why people who live in those big and elegant city feels stressed..
What an amusing blog!
Was shocked to read that “Parisians all get sick of Paris after a while.” …. like someone already commented here, we (non-Parisians) would still love to live there long enough to be able to have the “commodity” to get sick of it
Loved reading about all the ptit weekend meanings too
Cheers,
Marica