That surprises me that France prohibits drinks at work. Granted, most hip US based companies that I've seen that have a bar do not have people drinking at 1pm.

That surprises me that France prohibits drinks at work. Granted, most hip US based companies that I've seen that have a bar do not have people drinking at 1pm. Usually it's a post-5pm happy hour thing, not a license to get hammered with your colleagues. I have a vision of Europe, and probably France in particular, as being far more liberal about alcohol (but more conservative about abuse / overindulgence in alcohol).