In the 90s I was in my forties...and my kids were teenagers...well past the bottle of wine stage sadly...in the 90s we used to travel to Calais for a day trip of shopping...and it was shop till you drop....but was always Mammouth, Geant or Auchan...
Jo if you are under retirement age....65...and not working...then you have to pay the full amount...its not a top up...so my husband would have to pay 1000 euros a month....
Richard your attitude is appalling. You say people who complain should keep quiet or "go home". You also mentioned that you feel France is perfect for you and you never have any complaints, but you appear to have plenty of resources at hand to help you make your life comfortable. We can't all afford a shopping spree and some of us would also prefere to choose a less wasteful way of shopping, so would prefere to discuss ways of exchanging good practice so that our LOCAL services improve, wherever we live. It makes no sense to see everything with rose tinted specs, when there are real failures to bring up here and never to criticise or challenge is to opt out of french life.
Well David..I shop primarily in Newbury, Reading and Eastbourne....if you hate to have someone pack your bags..thats your choice...but I dont have the choice in France...they wont do it! I use M&S, Waitrose, but also use the everyday supermarkets...today Ive been in over a dozen shops in Newbury, my bank included..had a pleasant exchange with the bank cashier. Ive had nothing but excellent service...polite...when I couldnt find something in Waitrose I was taken to it by an assistant...who asked if she could help me with anything else. I had a good chat with all the staff on tills. Had my car MOTd and had a laugh with the lady in reception who I paid....I visited a few charity shops...lovely staff...stopped by a chugger (charity mugger) working for Shelter....told him my spare dosh goes to RNIB who I worked for for years...but we still had a chat about homelessness which I also worked in....dont know where you shop....but I have only met one less than good customer services person since returning to the UK this week...and that was someone at Paddington checking tickets...who wouldnt speak and only nodded or shook her head...not bad for several days though and I am out all day, every day....
re 1000 a month for health insurance... what? we looked at getting top up for the two adults and one child during our first weeks here and it was 80 euros a month in 2006. We turned out not to need it as our salaries have not been high enough to not qualify for free healthcare. Whe needs to pay a thousand a month for health cover?
That's actually a really good sales ploy while you're waiting for the queue at the only manned check out to go down - you can shampoo the dog and feed pate to the kids which they then gunk all over the toys. By the time you get to be next to pay, they can charge you for everything. Glorious.
I agree Carol. My workshop was robbed twice here and never in the UK. and we live in the countryside, not near a city. we needto see a few figures to compare crime etc to really judge properly.
Sorry Carol, ran out of 'replies' - you're still a young thing and I bet it brought a smile to your face! If you were like me 'in my youth' supermarkets were literally a place to pop in to grab bread, shampoo and a bottle of wine for the weekend. I probably wouldn't have known if it was a Carrefour unless I'd bumped into the sign on the way in.
re philadelphia, I bought my son some spread cheese the other day from leclerc, their own brand I think, which seemed remarkably similar and about half the price. It was next to some stuff called ST Moret, which was similar in price to philadelphia.
re France VV UK, isn't that what we like this forum for? To debate the ups and downs, pros and cons, fors and againsts? after all, without comparisons, criticisms and debates there would be no change and nothing would improve ever, anywhere. Surely human being should be capable of arguing and deciding on best practice, otherwise whats the point of being alive?
we all pay Tax Fonciere and Habitation....but many who receive pensions choose to pay tax at source...if you are truly domiciled here...you should choose to pay your taxes here..and this includes your pension tax...my OH has been double taxed for 3 years on his....waiting for the UK to finally give up their tax and allow France to be the beneficiary....anyway...its more of a question...I just find it interesting that many peeps who say how much they love France retain their rights to health care, car tax etc...in the UK...I am interested as to why they do it! I decided early on I didnt want to be domiciled here...so I spend most of the year in the UK..work and pay tax in the UK...so when in france I am on holiday....my husband pays a much higher tax as a single man....the price of my choice...
haha Valerie...good one...I was 40 in 94....so not such a young thing...sadly!
That's probably because you were a young thing in the 90s my darling! Apparently they've also opened something huge in the Sultanate of Oman so they seem to have fingers in many pots - perhaps they're becoming overstretched.
also Like!
Val, I wrote about it earlier in the chain. I went on a field trip with human geography undergrads. We went to Carrefour in Caerphilly aroung 1978 which was at that time said to be the most advanced hypermarket in the world. Wal-mart got their act together as you say, on the back of what they started. Now they are stagnating and will Carrefour Planet work?
This reply confused me a little. From what I can see in Richard's comment, he has French agents coming round helping with the tax and insurance forms so presumably they're all being paid in France. We're probably both in the same boat regarding health care as well - I'm no longer entitled as I'm not a UK resident.
My neighbour who runs a Spar shop locally....has had a broken sunlounger outside his shop for the last 4 summers...the bit at the back that makes the backrest upright is broken...so you can only lay flat on it...its white plastic, or at least it was white plastic years ago...has got very dirty over the last few years....and has been on sale since 2008 for 28 euros.... now I would suggest if that happens in the UK...it is discarded...and never sees the light of day....this has become a private joke with my husband and myself...
I honestly had never heard of carrefour till well into the end of the 90s....however, we have come across them in Thailand and other out of the way places....but you know they have had 5 profit warnings in the last 18 months and are selling many of their stores....I know of 8 stores within striking distance of me that have been taken over by other supermarkets...
Oh Finn...you have mentioned FT.....the one company that could have caused me to self combust! they are beyond a waste of space...they have a monopoly...couldnt care less.....cant communicate...and basically should be exterminated! I had a year of misery with them...actually having a sit in at their Perpignan store...they are rude, useless and I gather their employees have a higher rate of suicide than any other European company!
I actually did some research!
[introduction of hypermarkets globally]...and in Europe by Carrefour, which opened its first such store in 1963 at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, France.
The hypermarket concept spread in the United States in 1987, both with the introduction of stores by Carrefour, and by major American chains. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the three major discount store chains in the United States—Wal-Mart, Kmar] and Target—started developing discount stores in the hypermarket format. Wal-Mart introduced Hypermart USA in 1987 and later Wal-Mart Supercenter, and Kmart developed Super Kmart.
So Richard....are you now a French citizen? do you pay your taxes here? you get your health care here? you have given up your right to UK health services? your car is French or an English car which is registered in France...and insured in France? I am only asking because so many of my friends...who adore France...and wish to stay for ever, in fact still pay UK tax (allowing their pension to be taxed at source....if you live in France you really should have the tax transferred to France)....our friends also return to the UK for health care...they are under retirement age and not willing to pay the 1000 euros a month for health insurance....and I know at least 7 builders locally and two friends not in the building trade...who still drive on UK plates, insure in the UK and MOT in the UK.....which I find weird if this is the country they wish to stay in forever.....Incidentally, we have done all the things I mentioned above, and we dont actually enjoy it here that much and will be moving back to the UK...but during our stay we have at least complied with the law.