That doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like “The Barber of Seville.” Anyway. While taking a walk through one of our favorite medieval villages, Autun, in Burgundy, we came across a shop window that read, “messieurs, messieurs“. (men, men) A barbershop in France! Well, SORT of a barbershop. Probably as close to a barbershop as one could get in France. Where was the barbershop pole?

Why did it look like time stopped inside the shop sometime in the 70s to become a movie set with Quentin Tarantino directing? Nevermind. Look in the display window and what do you see?

Blood splattered everywhere. Barber Shop! Then it must be so.

You see, in France, places like this attract attention because normally during that stroll down the street of French shops, you will see something to this effect: a hair salon, a lingerie shop, a shoe shop (rinse and repeat SEVERAL times over and over and over again). Ok. Once in a while a tabac, clothes store or souvenir shop will be thrown in for good measure but in general it’s the hair salon, lingerie place and shoe store or combination thereof. So, when you see a place like Mr. Barjot’s barbershop, it stands out.

Though he didn’t appear insane at all, the name: “Barjot” actually means “crazy” in French slang (Verlan), taking the inverse of jobard (crazy). He and his client were kind enough to pose for a photo. Thanks, barber (and barber’s client) of Autun!

It occurred to me that barbers might originally have been French, since “barbe” means beard (or boring: la barbe!) in French and barbers back in the day shaved beards. However. Despite being a barbershop, Mr. Barjot doesn’t do barbes.

Links: Everything you ever wanted to know about barbers but were too bored to ask