He told us that, as a rule, a concierge was paid only fifty francs, but sometimes he got as much as 250 francs a month in pourboires from the guests in the hotel. A femme de chambre would make twenty-five francs a month at a hotel. Neither concierge nor femme de chambre would be given more than eight days' notice if sent away. At this hotel he had no room to himself, no seat even (we often found him sitting on the stairs in the evening) and up most nights until half-past twelve, and yet he had to rise up and be at work, each morning by half-past five.
In the summer months it seemed the custom to go further south to some hotel or other, guests spending half the year at one place, and half at another.
GUJAN-MESTRAS,
Huts of the Fishermen, and "Parcheurs" (Oyster Catchers).
[Page 61.
[CHAPTER IV]
By far the most interesting village in the neighbourhood of Arcachon, is Gujan-Mestras.
Gujan-Mestras is the centre of the oyster fishery, and that of the royan, which is a species of sardine. Nearly all royans indeed are caught there. The patois of the parcheurs and parcheuses (oyster catchers) we were told, is partly Spanish. They can talk our informant said, very good French, but when any strangers are present they talk a sort of Spanish patois. "For instance, une fille would be la hille," he explained. "The Spaniards talk very slowly, as do the Italians; it is only les Anglais qui, je trouve, parlent très vite." The oysters of Gujan-Mestras are of worldwide renown. Among others, it will be remembered, Rabelais praised highly the oysters of the Bassin d'Arcachon. And indeed, it cannot fail to be one of the most important places for oyster-culture and the breeding ground of the young oyster, considering what the annual production is—more than a million of oysters, young, middle-aged, and infants under age.
The day I first saw Gujan-Mestras there was a grey, lowering sky, and everything was dun-coloured. But the port was alive with activity, interest, and excitement. The huts, which face the bay, are built all on the same pattern—of one story, dark brown in colour, wooden-boarded, and roofed with rounded, light yellow tiles, which look in the distance like oyster shells. Over the doors of some are little inscriptions: over some a red cross is chalked, or a fleur de lys. The parcheurs do not sleep here; they live in the village above, but these huts are simply for use while they are at work during the day.