Pompiers were here two weeks ago!
Hiya Nancy, you got a date planned?
2 euros for La Poste if you can't get rid of them without! 10 euros for the pompier (cos they're worth it) and everyone else in between.
Gendarmes are no longer allowed to canvas door to door. Way back in 1990 when I set up an Irish Pub in Toulouse, they were still allowed to canvas on behalf of the Gendarmes' Widows fund. And if you had a pub, or any sort of business, you were mad not to give them something as they came round late at night - three or four at a time. But this wasn't a handful of loose change: it was large notes. I brought the matter up with the Café Owners Union, to which I belonged, as I felt that I was being pressured into paying for, basically, protection, as one of the Gendarmes had explained to me that if I co-operated it might be very useful - in the event of a fight or 'unforeseen' incidents. The union chatised me for even mentioning the words 'protection money' and 'gendarmes' in the same sentence and said that they had very good relations with both the police and the Gendarmes. I later dicovered that they handed over a fair whack of our union dues each year to the Widows and Orphans fund! All this was stopped in 1996 or so.
The pompiers are fair enough but I have no time for the others - especially the binmen who are well paid, have civil service status ... and we pay a hefty fee each year to the council for this very service. Same goes for the postman.
Can I ask, what is the amount you offer these folks? (Moving over in a year and a half or thereabouts and so curious). If you are uncomfortable with a specific number, can you give a range? I have seen the humorous version of this in "A Year in Provence" with John Thaw from years ago/