Love in the Afternoon

"In Paris, no one makes love in the evening any more; everyone is too tired." So sighs a character in Francoise Sagan's latest novel, La Chamade, and so to a breathless world was revealed the latest innovation in French amatory technique. In the days of Maupassant, mustaches and mistresses, the affluent Frenchman could not do without his cinq a sept—the 5-to-7 p.m. evening liaison with his paramour. Then he dashed home for a 7:30 dinner with his wife. All of that, as La Sagan sadly reports, has changed.

The new hours for love in the afternoon are 2 to 4 p.m.

It was the automobile that set the clock back. Paris traffic jams—among the worst in the world—make it virtually impossible for the suburban Frenchman to have his cinq a sept and still get home in time to dine with his family. As a result, French philanderers have made a noble sacrifice: instead of the long leisurely lunch of yore, the ardent lover grabs a quick sandwich and a bottle of refreshing Vichy water, then dashes off to see his mistress from 2 to 4. Even the improving French postal service works in his favor: outgoing office mail, which under the old romantic regime had to be posted no later than 5 p.m., can now be postponed as late as 7 p.m., thus giving the amorous executive time for both lust and letters.

The 2-to-4 schedule also suits today's wayward servantless housewife, whose children return home from school at 4:30, thus destroying the old cinq a sept timetable. Another aid for delinquent dames: the wig.""It's a wonderful alibi," explained one Parisian housewife last week. "You tell your husband you must go to the hairdresser. Then, instead, you send your wig and stay home to receive your lover. You retrieve the wig later and appear properly coiffed for your husband. Neat." As for Novelist Sagan, who was in New York last week promoting her new book, the failure of Americans to adapt to the new timetable was a bit tristessing. Gazing wistfully at the towers of Manhattan as the clocks struck 2, she said: "It doesn't seem to have caught on here yet."