say it out loud, Vic, and it'll be clear ;-)
I confess, I import French, German and Spanish books. But then I can't find them here. The rest, we allow Intermarché, Carrefour, etc rob us blind, use local markets and farms wherever and whenever possible and just do what everybody else around us does.
When you are 'tied hand and foot' by your circumstances and what you do have there is usually little room for versatility because most of the time is spent surviving.
Here we go again!!! What's bof?
Occitan provençal I believe, lei Mauras, so not much time for the French and the invasion of outsiders in St Trop. Just like my first wife who was Corsican, from a radically separatist family, who whenever anybody spoke to her to show off how good their French only got responses in Corsu saying that France was not a country she had any time for - which none of them ever understood a word of.
sooo true, Véro, and when you do buy here - buy French!
and France just being down-graded again, and the thousands of jobs being lost at the moment with large industries being shut down not to mention all the pme closing too :-O
Oh yes Brian, foreigners - I grew up on a mediterranean peninsula and we all knew foreigners meant people who lived beyond the Massif des Maures!!
Sadly the truth.
If you are British & live here don't do your shopping in GB & import it, is a small thing anyone can do - otherwise bof.
trop fort ! et malheureusement, tellement vrai :-(
So what? That is not the subject of the question you raised, so why pull that into it? I do understand the SE anyway, it was where I lived, my remaining family live and many of my friends and even old school mates still are and none of those are part of the wealthy class you mention although some are quite comfortably off.
I understand history, economics and sociological areas because that was what I was educated (some may say brainwashed) to understand and something I on the one hand love and enjoy but on the other leave entirely alone if I know nothing about it.
Brian your last few sentances are heart breaking;
you report that your friends are desperatly stratching at a living and
some will not make it.
We have to be so versatile to survive.
Carole we need...... no kitchen....We have had our chat.
have a good evening.
By the way some of you have been living away from Uk for some time.
Please note that the wealthy South East is a field of opportunity for the very
wealthy and the very young eyes glazed with asperations of finding a great
job....
But for each whisper of success their is an echo of great despair which beams
from the great UK capitol. Yes you are all the fathers of logic and know your history,
your financial structures and you are very good at putting your views across.
The world depends upon you all but there is still room for ideas outside the box and
a little imagination.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Barbara, do you not see what is around you? Why did I mention vide greniers and the fact they are almost an industry? Where would Oxfam type shops go with the rent, taxe foncière and other expenses? Take a serious look at France, absorb it and take a big breath then think again. I am here with no illusions but start analysing my life without knowing me very well and you would be so wide of the mark... I have no idea about your life and how hard it has been anyway. What is relevant is that you are here now, you seem to be missing much of what is happening around you amongst the French population. Neither of our life experiences is pertinent to your question anyway. Perhaps they shape our outlook on life but should never create illusions.
Apart from here on SFN I have little to do with so-called ex-pats, my social environment is essentially French and is not a kind of middle class type setting in which the moaning well paid types parade their complaints. Our friends include barely surviving working people, all levels and types of educational backgrounds, etc, etc. There is a common theme they all talk about and that is much like Andrew was saying about the generation being made not to think out of the box, being made complacent because complacency makes passive people who do not protest or create other disturbances. That is the real France. Do I agree with that being right and as it should be? No way, I would like to see the 'revolutionary spirit' of the French return and the people pulling their strings put in their place. I know a lot of people would love to see that, they simply do not know how to make it happen. As for stimulating France, unfortunately most of them are too busy surviving and from the looks of things many of them may not make it the way things are going. It is heart breaking but real.
Which kitchen do you invite me to Carole?
Every bit of change and effort is always better than none.
But you do not agree...
I AM not living in Cloud cuckoo land I am living in hope in France.
Many purchases are more exspensive in France.
But why not set up oxfam type shops.
People bring in unwanted goodies and then sell them on...
spliting the proceeded 2 ways.
Not huge profits but could make a dull village a little righter and add pennies
to purses. Talk to people and you may find things can happen for the best.
Not from you Andrew but it seems to be there with Carole.
You can be realistic but not devoid of motivation.
motivation....
And by the way....have you not moved forward with your project???
Did you not persue the idea.
Has it not pleased you to get there in the end?
Does achieving have to be about making big money?
No...I do not think so....it is about rotavating, stimulating and
possibly by helping others.....gives you a natural sense of happiness.