You are probably aware that all cars in France have to always carry a bright yellow waistcoat and a warning triangle in case of night time emergencies.
But one new rule that has perhaps received less publicity than it could have done is the requirement that drivers in France are now obliged to carry an individual alcohol breath test, and those that don’t are liable to pay a small fine of 17 euros.
Better late than never I thought I’d better ‘put my cards on the table’ with a few predictions about the things that will affect France and the lives of French expats this year…
We all know that France has an excellent train system, the TGV, that whistles passengers from city to city at high speed and in great comfort. What you may not realise is that not everywhere in France is on a TGV high speed train line and things don’t always run quite as smoothly as the French train adverts would have you believe.
We haven’t been exposed much to French trains (there aren’t any near here) but with daughter 1 starting at Lyon university we have discovered a whole new world, strangely reminiscent of my days as a London commuter.
We have all long ago agreeed that there are some things from the UK that expats can’t manage without. Or perhaps it was just marmite and mince pies?
So following a week of Christmas and New Year over-eating and festivities and I thought a reminder of what we have to celebrate with in France, and how it compares with its British counterpart, might be a good idea.
In these troubled times any talk of selling up and moving to France has reduced quite a lot. Apart from anything else it is now impossible to buy a studio flat in England for £50k, sell it a month later for £250k, and hope to live for ever on the profits in some quiet part of the French countryside.
But there are still compelling reasons to have a life-changing experience and come and join us in the sunshine…
How I miss the pleasures of having small children around at Christmas – the squabbling and bickering, one taunting the other, the other making rude gestures…
So in the absence of small children I have taken to watching the news instead, to see the latest instalment in the childish behaviour of French and British politicians. Far more entertaining than anything my own children used to get up to!
We just had one of our (exceptionally rare) trips to England, for a couple of days of self-indulgence, and stayed in a hotel in central London.
A long time ago I wrote a post about the kind of jobs that expats in France do or might consider doing to help make ends meet (see expat work in France).
But times and ideas move on and recessions turn up unexpectedly so I thought I’d suggest a different idea. This is something I would do myself it I had more time, and that I am quite confident could earn a plausible income for a suitably dedicated person (or unlimited number of people).
The countdown to Christmas has begun so after years of grumbling about the absence of a Christmas pudding at our French Christmas dinners (sorry, a Christmas log just isn’t the same) I thought this year I’d turn my attention to turkeys.
Having a turkey for Christmas dinner is less of a longstanding tradition in France than in the UK but it is still very popular, and I’m guessing a good number of expats will be enjoying one come the festive season.
Sometimes we have to ignore the ‘big picture’ (global catastrophes and so on) and worry about the little problems instead. For example, how is it possible that every week I need to change lightbulbs when each one comes with a ‘two year guarantee’ and cost many times what an ‘old-fashioned’ lightbulb cost?
Certainly electrical and plumbing items in France seem very prone to falling to bits as soon as you actually start using them, and it’s not just lightbulbs that are the problem.
Running a business isn’t easy at the moment, in France or elsewhere, and everyone would welcome some good advice about how to cope with the difficult conditions.
So despite having challenges of our own (don’t get me started on those) I though it would be useful if I went round to all the local French run businesses and shouted “Sort yourselves out!!” over and over again through the window.
Ok it doesn’t sound like a particularly sensible question in the middle of November with a recession setting in (again) but our website statistics show that lots of people are asking that exact question.
Perhaps it is winter setting in that reminds people that they quite like the sunshine? Perhaps the recent TV programmes about expat life in the Dordogne have reminded people that actually expats in France don’t have it so bad? Or perhaps the ‘grass still looks greener’ in France than in the UK…
What do you think of when people talk about art in France? The Louvre or the Orsay perhaps? Monet and the impressionists or the cave paintings at Lascaux?
It is now only a couple of weeks until the 10 year anniversary of our move to France – perhaps the decision we planned to make after two years about whether to stay in France is slightly overdue!
Of course we didn’t really know what to expect out of the move – or at least we though we knew what to expect but it turned out very different from reality in almost every respect.
Nobody has called me yet to ask if I would like to contribute my share of the next 100 billion euro bailout fund, must be a problem with the answering machine perhaps. Still, just in case M. Sarkozy et Mme Merkel are reading this in a tea break at the ‘Hey, lets save the euro again’ conference the answer is no thanks.
I don’t remember ever gaining a single cent in benefit from dodgy loans by banks to countries that couldn’t afford to borrow the money – so I’m not keen on half my taxes going in payments to bail out the banks and bankers that did benefit.