Oh by the way there is a great future in France for bi linguistic people.
I have had only 2 very good jobs in 30 years I have been here. Only experience and the fact that I speak both languages have helped in this.
There are many jobs for younger bi lingual people here
Haha even older people, just needs imagination, courage and an extremely good sense of humour lol lol 
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Youngest daughter works in a local pharmacy and gets a 10% bonus on her salary for being bi-lingual.
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That is excellentā¦encouragement.
Can anyone tell me if you had to go to such ridiculous lengths why roofers in France pay so little attention to health and safety?
Jane I have a friend who is a roofer I will ask him. But I imagine that they are all ex ballet dancers.
@Jane_Williamson, it is one of the things that has always baffled me. Having worked in the construction industry for 20+ years before coming here I was shocked at the number of guys on roofs where thereās either no scaffolding or scaffolding with no guard rails. However as there is no real form of building regs here or something similar to the HSE itās not surprising people take risks and to be honest Iāve done some crazy things, probably the most dangerous was climbing through a skylight to get on a roof to re-fit some slipped tiles, 10 metres up no harness and very close to the edge.
Ballet dancers are preferable to clog dancers.
I imagine their life expectancy will be longer.
for sure Jane!
Slightly off subject, but while roofing is being mentioned I have this to addā¦
My farmer neighbour, 52 years old, was repairing a hole on his hanger roof, he was on a ācherry pickerā with bars around the cradle, driven by his 18 year old son. The roof was one of those corrugated cement type (canāt remember the name). He reached over to push some sheeting back in, put his weight on an unsupported part and fell 8 metres to his death. 
yes I think that we all wanted to hear such a cheery story!
My reply was to Tim re his comments about the risks people take on roofs. This was unhappily a risk too far and perhaps can serve as a warning to others. It wasnāt meant to be a cheery story !
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Thats what happens when you use a cheery pickerā¦
Sorry, sad story. Always wear a harness on roof or scaffolding, make sure itās secured to something too.
The risks are apparent!
Just thought that your story was very gloomy.
If the risks are apparent why do so many people take them, including Tim from what he says ?
Of course its a gloomy story but its a real one and if it makes just one person think twice then I am not sorry to have posted it.
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@barbara_deane1, the guys who work on roofs (myself included) are aware of the risks but Iām sorry to say health and safety leaves a lot to be desired here especially in the the rural areas where site inspections are non-existant so Anneās story maybe gloomy but itās very common.
Every DIY type TV programme that Iāve seen recently where theyāve been using a cherry picker theyāve emphasised the need to wear a harness.
The answer is simple Ann, people have to earn a living no matter how risky the work is. Looking back over the last ten years or so I sometimes shudder at some of the things Iāve had to do which have led to thankfully only minor injuries.
I didnāt realise that there were so few controls for āprofessionalsā Tim. I assumed that there would be stringent health and safety regulations, especially for this dangerous type of work, whether in rural areas or not.
Mandy Davies had to attend a safety course to learn about safety when cleaning, ie to put rubber gloves on when using bleach, how to use a step ladder etc;
So its incredible that for āroofingā there arenāt more controls. Thats terrible for all the workers, why has this been allowed to go on ?
The sad story I cited was someone taking a risk at his own home without thinking through what might happen. Sadly, as with so much in life we think that we are invincible !
In the cities and towns here youāll see building work being carried out with the correct scaffolding and safety netting etc, in the countryside though itās a different story. The same applies with building regs, I can get planning permission to convert a barn but no one will inspect the work once itās finished.