All I Wanted was a Bottle of Water...

We had been warned that the French shut things down on Sundays. Sunday is a family day. I am not quire sure where these families are, because the streets are empty, but I am sure they are spending time together somewhere.
In the past, we were used to stores being closed on Sundays. The Maritimes were notorious for this until recently. However as an Albertan, Sunday is an essential shopping day. Getting a parking spot at our downtown Coop was impossible on Sundays. And I am sure one is just asking to get run over by a crazed shopper’s cart at the WalMart or Superstore in Calgary on Sunday. But not in France! You could be going the wrong way in a rond-point (more on driving later) on Sunday without a worry.
Unfortunately, we were unprepared for family day last Sunday, when our bottled water stock ran dry. The tap water in our temporary accommodation tastes horrible, so we have been living on bottled water. In our car and furniture shopping frenzy Saturday, we did not make it to the grocery store to stock up on water. So thirst brought us out of the house on this rainy Sunday. Grocery store one—closed. Grocery store two—closed. We stopped at the closest Patisserie, a store that is open on Sundays. But alas, no water. Wine and champagne, yes, but no water. We left with a baguette, crème brulee, and pain au chocolat (called chocolatine, or choco here), that cost only 3.30 euros, and continued on our hunt.
It soon became clear that nothing was open, except patisseries and gas stations. We stopped at the nearest Total station, and fortunately were able to pick up a couple of bottles of Evian.
Sunday served as a good lesson: stock up during the week!