If anyone is really that interested, they can click on the little pencil and see the deleted text.
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Books being edited to provide a better read is not censorship! And in this case it is about politeness and respect.
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It would have been so much better if the relevant bits had just been moved into its own thread and the drift left complete as it too had some valuable content.
Like the inquisition and the guerres de religion? The Albigensian Crusade? The crusades in general? The long and dismal litany of colonial brutality given a hypocritical justification in the name of christianising?
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This had the opportunity to be a useful and interesting thread. It seems to have trailed off into politics and name calling. I started to read it because it’s a question I’m contemplating - my husband died 3 years ago , but I got so fed up with the thread going off in a direction not intended - I gave up reading.
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Shame isn’t it. When we started out here had no thought of things like inheritance, so only now that have to consider it. And it’s complex.
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Like many taxes IHT is a “cash cow” for the government, at least in the UK the allowances are very generous so less than 10% of estates are subject to it.
And no difference here! For recent immigrants this is a headache, but the majority of French families have well planned strategies in place to minimise any IHT. Which is quite easy to do here, given time.
. Parmi ceux qui héritent, le taux effectif d’imposition sur les successions est en moyenne de seulement 5%, tandis qu’ils sont plus de 87% à ne rien avoir à payer du tout.
Hi, there are lots of places in France on the outskirts of cities where you can live in small buildings with lifts but with the countryside on your doorstep. I’m in a village in the West Lyonnais (in a house for now) and in less than 20 minutes on a good day and outside rush hours, you can get to the centre of Lyon (great city) in the car or 25 minutes with the excellent public transport system. The nearest hospital is 15 minutes away by car. In the opposite direction, on foot or by car we have small villages, fields, forests and the Monts Lyonnais. I do miss the sea though !
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Thee two views are not mutually exclusive. I do think the NHS is wonderful, but it does need a long hard look taken at its organisation. The current Government have taken a first step on that road by abolishing NHS England. 9000 admin jobs are going.
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Sarcasm!!
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Just popping back into this thread to tell of my experience the other day.
Visiting a couple of friends (late 80’s) I was intrigued to find they’d had a stairlift installed. The wife has suffered a stroke and can’t manage the stairs and they don’t want to move out of their home.
anyway, sufficiently fortified, I allowed myself to be strapped into the seat and sent trundling down the (almost) sheer drop… I had eye’s closed to start with but took a peek after few moments… 
Very smooth ride, took the two bends gently and quietly… so I decided it was safe to breath… and the moon landing was completed in safety 
After this experience, I’d be quite happy to have a similar contraption in our home if the need arises. We love the place and hope to stay forever… if at all possible.
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LOL As long as the Gremlins don’t invade your home. (Film The Gremlins and the stairlift scene)
We had a stair lift installed for my mother. Expensive to install and virtually worthless after her death; we ended up giving it to a local charity. For myself I would get a lift instead. Yes more expensive to install, but generally don’t have to remove it to sell the place.
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We knew a place on the west coast of France. One of the seafront buildings provided holidays for the handicapped and had a special external lift put in. Looked very smart and seemed to work well.
It served each of the 3 floors and as we sat across the road, sipping our drinks and watching some of the comings and goings… we (and club pals) reckoned it was a brilliant idea. and some of us reckoned we’d like one for our own homes to save our legs and puffing up and down the stairs carrying this and that …
Some years later, back at the same place… and it’s all changed. The lift has been removed and (so I am told) the original staircases are once again the only means of getting from floor to floor.
Hm… if I’d been able to afford to buy the place, I’d have kept the lift… but everyone will have their own reasons for their decisions… 
So would I - I think un ascenseur is a very sensible idea for later life, if you can afford it and have the space for the installation.
Today’s Trivia Fact - the word for a lift/elevator in Greek is ασανσέρ (asansér) 
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I looked into that too, when I was hoping to persuade my beloved MiL to move to be with us. Even found a bigger house which would accommodate us all.
Current house has a stairwell which I think could be converted to a lift shaft when the time comes - thanks for replanting the idea!
My friend who has one has it in her hall cupboard! These days needs no more space than would be occupied by a wheelchair and doesn’t need retaining walls, or excess height above. It is just a tube, slightly Doctor Whovian, or perhaps returning in time to shops which had the capsules money was put in and sent to accounts?
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You’ll need a helmet because pneumatic tubes were frighteningly fast! And also possibly an oxygen mask.
I can remember one still used in Asprey for sending money and bills up to accounts 