There’s a convention - but in real terms it makes absolutely no odds. Sockets are usually marked L N E but …
The Earth connection obviously is important that must/will always be the central pin - but you won’t notice Live Neutral cross over domestically.
A lot of travel adapters switch live and neutral over and no one notices
If you flip the plug as if it were going into the socket doesn’t it match the sockets?
Although there is no standard in France, manufacturers do now mark phase/live as clockwise from the earth pin as you look at a socket face.
In my view it really does matter which way round things are. If live & neutral are reversed an appliance or light fitting will remain connected to live even though the item’s built in switch (which will be wired to the incoming live) is off.
This is why I don’t like having those flat two pin plugs on unearthed items that can then be turned around in the socket , reversing live & neutral.
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That’s why I wondered about which way round they should be.
OK on double insulated - as you say a disaster on older stuff.
Although there is no standard in France, manufacturers do now mark phase/live as clockwise from the earth pin as you look at a socket face.
In my view it really does matter which way round things are. If live & neutral are reversed an appliance or light fitting will remain connected to live even though the item’s built in switch (which will be wired to the incoming live) is off.
This is why I don’t like having two pin plugs on unearthed items that can then be turned around in the socket , reversing live & neutral.
Very true, but it still makes my teeth itch.
In a similar way I’ve come across extension leads that have four sockets on the drum, two wired right, two wired “wrong”. There are also those nasty convertors from single to double sockets, with one of those outlets being reversed.
Reversal still makes the switch end up in the neutral line, so still not OK.
For peace of mind, because it’s raining and I’m bored, I checked all our sockets today and the only two that had the live on the L from the front were two in the garage that were not done during the cottage rewiring, now swapped over.
It’s probably a bit anal but it makes me feel better 
One thing that annoys me about the French system as I prefer it on the UK system is not having an on/off switch on a plug socket and having to pull out the plugs all the time, you don’t realise you want until you have it, and then you really miss it when it’s not there.
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I don’t like this either. All the sockets at my place are wired with L and N on the correct sides, so I have marked the actual live side of any ready-fitted 2 pin plugs. In most cases, a little work with a multi-meter was required along with a bit of dismantling…
Yes! I’m another one who’d like to be able to switch the socket off rather than having to unplug the appliance. I realise that suckers are only switched on live usually but it’s an easy way to do the flow of current.
In the same vein, plugs should, I take it be wired with the brown wire on the left of the earth pin looking into the plugs from the pins - is this now marked on the better plugs? Like you, I’d like to see it marked.
I have some work to do as I think I have wired plugs with the brown wire on the right…
I put a picture further up.
d’uh - so you did! the mistake of jumping in on threads.
Anyway, I will copy it if ok and stick it to the inside of my screwdriver box…
thanks!
Well, I’ve learnt alot today with thanks to all who have chipped in.
I am also pleased to have stopped the boredom escalating in the @Griffin36 household!!
After much deliberation I have gone for a hard wired floodlight as I realised that as the new light is to go on the gable end of the bread oven which has no interior light but will have now.
All wiring complete and now waiting for Amazon to deliver.
As an aside, our bread oven is as good as the day it was constructed some 200 years ago and now the interior can be seen in all its glory. I feel sure that if the structure was in the UK it would have had a preservation order slapped on it years ago but here they are relatively commonplace and unwanted.
True but irrelevant for double insulated - which should be protected from anyone poking anything in and touching anything live, whatever polarity the plug.
Plus, quite a bit of double insulated stuff doesn’t even *have* a physical mains switch anyway.
You can always fit a plugtop with an integrated switch if it really such a problem. Legrand, amongst others, produce them ref. LEG50409
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It would be ideal 
bar the cost of around €10 each and it doesn’t get around the problem of the myriad of power adapters we have plugged in.
we have 4 gang adapters with on/off switches - makes life easier.
We have the problem of my FIL who has dementia doing things like forgetting to put a cup under his coffee machine, spilling mugs everywhere, forgetting to turn off taps, missing his cup and emptying the kettle onto the worktop/floor etc, I try not to use adapters unless they are switched power cubes on the wall socket.
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In addition to adding a PIR light to our entrance driveway I have replaced 2 very old 500 w floodlights that cover our 20 x40m courtyard with new 100w LED lights. Last night was the big switch on and wow what a difference.
The previous lights were warm white whereas the new ones are cold white.
We had full daylight at 10pm and no shaded areas for Alfie to do his night time toiletry 
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