So where were you from in London Carol?
ok...this is where we will really disagree! cash in hand is indefensible....cash in hand and the refusal to pay tax is what has spelt out the end of Greece....it is selfish and greed driven....and people who dont pay tax dont seem to excuse themselves from health treatment or benefits...its no more than stealing from us all. ....we had a big job completed on our house in France...we bought all the equipment that was being installed...the job took a fortnight...the profit was earnings for the person we hired to undertake the job....it meant he took more than 2000k for 2 weeks work....he told us he didnt earn enough to pay tax....despite working full time...we had to wait weeks for him to be available for our job....we refused the offer to pay him cash.... I agree Andrew that there are people in the UK who ask for cash...but in 50 years of living in the UK I came across fewer than we have in 2 years in France.....
er...excuse me...?? when did I 'slag off' St Cyprien? we love it...we dont live there..we live in the Dordogne..we have a holiday flat in St Cyp....we had a problem with France Telecom in St Cyp....the area is fab...and so is Cornwall...its not a competition Brian! this week we have had fantastic weather in South/West Cornwall...sorry but we did...a week of blue skies, sun and up to 12 degrees...not my fault the weather was nice! I dated a Scotsman once...and he was fun...but his family were miserable...! I am from London originally...and always have a smile on my face...maybe that is why I get smiles back ;-) I am a southerner...so if you are telling me you had probs with miserable Yorkshiremen...so be it.....I am not a drinker either...but I enjoy a good pub meal and a quiz...
What bought me to France. Short answer, the wife. I would rather live back home in Scotland or maybe Sweden.
Why can you not get game? I think it is because most people in the french countryside are hunters, and they eat game rather than pay the price of meat in the Supermarket. It is certainly true in my commune. Could be more true if the euro does fail. Obvious answer is join the local chasse.
The big commercial shoots that I work on are few and far between. Mostly in the Loire Valley, or around Paris. Guns can pay around 1200 euros a day to shoot pheasants, and the local restaurants buy most of the game. Wild game, by which I mean game birds, are scarce, as the french hunters do not conserve game. The big commercial shoots, attached to a Chateau, are mostly managed by British game keepers. Like a lot of things in life, its who you know, and learning how the networks work.
the two cultures and systems are so different, the language is only a very small barrier compared to all the rest and I think that's where most people come unstuck. there's good and bad in both systems/cultures, we're lucky to experience both - most people never do!
job protection doesnt exactly encourage good working practice....my daughter is a teacher...and probably like you Andrew...has had a fabulous time teaching in lots of different places...(Sarah has taught in Italy, Korea, Thailand and Dubai) she is now a senior staff member and loves her job and her life....there was a fascinating interview with French teachers in a newspaper a while ago..where they described how in France...you pretty much stay put...and will eventually probably have a senior role; they were quite adamant that it was normal to stay put.....now it may be my UK education that has left me with a very individual way of thinking...but how fabulous to have the opportunity to enjoy a rich life involving travel and a lot of differing experiences....surely that adds to a teachers knowledge and ability to teach about life in diffent countries and cultures....I know which type of career I would prefer... I am a nurse...and have experienced the same extensive experiences my daughter has enjoyed...with lots of different nursing roles..and a wealth of experience...so much better than a job for life....
and that doesn't happen in the UK - was in business for a while and I can assure you that "cash" was alive and kicking in the UK not many years ago ;-)
It's always been that way and it always will and it'll always work somehow - a bit like Italy, another of my real loves ;-)
St Cyprien is nice. How can you slag the place off then talk about lovely weather in Cornwall that we could see from our dining room window in Swansea for five years. More wet and windy than most else, unless there is a weather front along the Bristol Channel? Yep, Basques and Ocs in St Cyp, not even French, so Andrew hit the nail on the head there.
I worked with Joan Lestor MP as an adviser for about 15 years on the children's rights issue and know that many of her colleagues worked their socks off. Many others I met were riding the job and did nothing for anybody. Is France actually different? Some are good, etc...
Carol I lived in Camborne and Truro - you were obviously very very lucky with the weather try living there through the average winter and you'll be back to St Cyprien in a shot. you were lucky not to come across the ill feeling towards "emets" (holiday makers) it can be a very unfriendly place for outsiders - we (no I didn't ever join in) used to block people's cars in the carpark who weren't local and were surfing our beach ;-)
You can get ahead in France, it's just different and yes I admit it usually takes more time if it's within companies or organisations (much much slower!) but apart from the taxe/charges sociales set up, there's nothing to stop people going ahead with ideas, I have family here that prove that. oh and St Cyprien isn't France, you're already in Catalonia there ;-) (that is tongue in cheek, I was in Amélie les bains the other day looking at a shop for sale - yes a business venture, they do exist!)
actually Brian...I will concede with the Telecom companies...neither of them anything to crow about...but the MP thing did surprise me...I worked for a sight loss charity for years....and would contact MPs all the time..often as just an individual...I have ALWAYS got a reply....as a matter of course. In France....I have never received a reply...now why would that be?
Carol, the difference is I am a Scot. The English find Scots dour and disagreeable. We are, with the English, but that is an ancient tradition. I have never heard as much moaning and pessimism anywhere in the world as we used to have living there. My OH, being Swiss Italian therefore much toward the latter with some of the Germanic stiffness, could not believe the discontentedness of people. She found the Welsh, during our five years in Swansea, far more to her liking and accepting her as well. In fact, Scots tend to be a carefree and lively lot who find our English neighbours from about the South Riding of Yorkshire down unbearably stiff and morose. That is exactly what those people think of us, but then we act that way toward them. Do the English do the same? As for pubs, well I am not a drinker, so what is on offer for me, so do not miss what I did not use.
Again, pretty well the same. Good luck to them all too!
Err excuse me, who owns the landlines in the UK? BT. There is competition in both countries. We had an ancient line in the UK, 12 miles out of Cambridge only and were told it had to be replaced before it would be adequate for internet use. Nearly two years there. Fortunately we had university computers and helpful neighbours at home. But BT better than FT. I think they are pretty much the same actually.
er..think as far as working on the 'black' goes...you have a long way to go to beat France! every job we have had quotes on in the house...and that adds up to a huge number...all of them...we have been offered a lower rate if we pay cash...and obviously accept no receipt..which we wont do...when you sell a property...if you have paid cash for everything you cant claim the work...which results in captial gains tax....tax avoidance is a bit of a hobby in France....as far as the UK and the wealth divide goes...and the situation with Banking...I agree with the above whole heartedly...another type of greed....
oh come on....5 months without connecting a phone? we even resorted to the local MP....no response at all...it was St Cyprien...Languedoc...in the town...we went to the Marie and were told that France Telecom were shocking and a law unto themselves...Ive had probs years ago with British Telecom...but nothing like the problems we had with France Telecom...even contacting their regulator who told us it was very difficult to get them to do anything! also of course...France Telecom has no competition...something else that France seems to like..lack of competition...
I can fully understand that it (France) suits some folks....we decided to return to the UK because it doesnt...I do feel that no matter how much you would like to get ahead in France..the option isnt there...its laid back or nothing...and why grumpy and miserable England Brian...I am here at the moment...Porthleven...and had nothing but friendly smiley interaction with others...friendly shop assistance...and everyone walking past us saying 'Hello' the stereotyping of grey miserable England is really...just that...today we had brilliant skies and sunshine...a weeks holiday in Cornwall and only yesterday rained...met some lovely folk in the pubs in the evenings...pub quiz etc...dont recognise your version of the UK...
Ditto. Grumpy, miserable England is not my cup of Typhoo at all.
Did you live in town or country? In a village miles from anywhere BT do not want to know unless it is really easy to get to - I was not.