Six implausible France predictions for 2012
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…
Robin Hood to the rescue
I don’t usually mention the news or other IMPORTANT MATTERS, being more suited to things of little importance, and I prefer not to comment on the UK election until I am sure David Cameron isn’t going to ask me to be the new Minister for French Trivia and Expat Affairs, but one much more entertaining [...]
Let the train take the strain
No time for a ‘real’ post today but I was wondering what had happened to our missing relatives, en-route here from England via Eurotunnel, so took a quick look on the internet: The google result for Eurotunnel caught my eye: first item, news about the thousands of people trapped on the trains or in their [...]
Watch out, here comes a caniciule
Some of you will remember that in 2003 France had a major ‘canicule’ (heatwave) that lasted for several weeks – and that an estimated 15,000 people, mostly elderly, died as a result. Following that heatwave, France implemented measures to prevent the same thing happening again. This week has been very hot in the south of [...]
Expat French newspapers
Given the recent demise of the ‘French News’ newspaper, it might seem bold, even reckless, to launch a new newspaper targeted at the same audience just three months later, but that’s exactly what some brave souls are doing with ‘The French Paper’. I’m impressed! Personally I often struggle to think of a couple of blog [...]
Bossnapping
In a reaction to the crisis in France, company bosses have been finding themselves taken hostage in an effort to gain improved redundancy terms or to avoid staff cutbacks. In the latest kidnapping, French workers in a factory in Metz blocked the door of the meeting room holding the bosses because some of the work from [...]
Dell France
This is a long story, but might have a moral in it somewhere. Or at least a warning. Six months ago I bought a portable PC, which had a lot of technical challenges i.e. didn’t work. I wrote about the problems at the time because I spent ages on a premium phone line while someone [...]
Patricia Kaas to sing for France
I haven’t seen the Eurovision Song Contest for quite a long time (28 years to be precise, when Bucks Fizz were making their minds up – I watched because I fancied Cheryl Baker) but was pleased to hear it is still going strong, and to be held in Moscow this year. There is exciting news [...]
Doing business in France
France is a great country to live in, and I’m very happy to be here. But there are issues to do with running a company that are, to say the least, challenging. It’s not unheard of for me to grumble about the bureaucracy and costs involved with running a business in France, usually while I [...]
Here is the news from France
It’s been quiet here since Christmas and New Year, without so much as an unexpected URSSAF bill to keep me amused, so I’ve had plenty of time to catch up on business paperwork and read the news. Neither is as much fun as you might think. Our accountant reviews our numbers with a fine-tooth comb, [...]
We’ve never had it so good
I was looking for Christmas lights in the attic when I came across our copy of the Millennium Times – the one from 1st January 2000. It was also the last New Year before we left the UK. I posted it here just in case this years New Year newspapers are less upbeat and you [...]
The end of the world as we know it
It seems a bit trivial for me to chat about growing vegetables in France when the world has such grave problems, although Mrs B does tell me she is going to double the size of our potager next year. Good news, lots of leek soup and fried courgettes, please do stop by… I also need [...]
Pope visits France
South-west France is to receive the Pope in a week or so, revolving around a visit to Lourdes, the town in the northern Pyrenees. Lourdes, as we all know, is best known because 150 years ago a local girl, Bernadette Soubirous, spoke several times to an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Since then Lourdes has [...]
Cars that run on air – coming soon?
Cars that run, quite literally, on air have been in design and development for a few years now, but this year it seems as if the impossible might actually happen – the French designer / inventor Guy Negre is hopeful that the cars will actually go on sale before the end of 2008. That is [...]
Amazon France must stop free delivery
In the over protected business environment of France few things surprise me any more, but even so I was shocked and dismayed to hear of the recent court ruling against Amazon France. Much as in other countries, Amazon France offers free delivery on orders over a certain value. Seems reasonable, I think you will agree. [...]
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