French Life-expat France

France, like much of the world, has experienced a boom in property prices over the last few years - overall house prices have roughly doubled in the last ten years.
A visitor to the site yesterday asked if I knew what was happening at the moment with house prices in France. Based on living here and [...]

OK complete trivia, and I don’t have much to say about it but I love this advert - I don’t know if it is only shown in France or if there is an English language version. Perhaps it’s just me - Mrs B wasn’t impressed. Perhaps I watched too many of these Russian processions on [...]

Saw an off-putting programme on the television last night, about the world, the environment, and agricultural practices. Curiouly the USA didn’t come out too well, due in part to the fact many Americans like to drive enormously large cars, live in vast houses, and never turn a lightbulb off whan they can turn two on [...]

Well, aren’t you all the lucky ones…Gordon Brown sitting on the throne (or is it ‘in the high-chair’?) after all these years. Perhaps he’s changed during the last few years, I’m a bit out of touch with things, but my failing memory doesn’t have him down as a very suitable prime minister.
Still, if Tony made [...]

If you are concerned that a slightly drunk president will accidentally fall on the nuclear button and spoil your summer holiday in Saint Tropez, I am pleased to tell you that the immediate danger has passed.
You might get sunburned, turn lobster red, and regret your holiday 20 years later when you have a terrible skin [...]

Seems there’s a bit of a scandal when the new President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy gets a bit drunk before a press conference, can’t imagine why.
In his defence he had just emerged from a meeting with Vladimir Putin, and I’m sure the ‘entente cordiale’ demanded that he have a couple of drinks.
What do you [...]

Well, after months of uncertainty and years of stagnation, France has chosen Sarkozy to be the new president. Congratulations France, congratulations Sarkozy!
‘Together, everything is possible’ (ensemble, tout devient possible) was the motto on which the campaign was based. An attractive little phrase, but only time will tell whether France really want to pull together to [...]

Yesterday evening I happened upon a TV interview with Segolene Royal, one of the two main contenders in the forthcoming French Presidential Elections. This did little to cheer me up, and while I am poorly placed to offer political commentary, I’m going to anyway.
Now as always my comments come with the proviso that I might [...]

Well, given the excitement in the news about the forthcoming French elections I suppose I had better start passing commenting on the contenders and the general political situation. Since I’m far from being an expert on French politics, the occasional entries will be either brief, or interspersed with irrelevant commentary in an attempt to make [...]

After years of worrying about our daughters’ potential boyfriends and future boyfriends, the problem is about to come to a head, but not in the way we expected.
Older daughter has a never ending stream of admirers, whispered phonecalls, giggly chats and so on, but apparently none of the contenders meet her demanding requirements. One particularly [...]

Usually, down here in the remote wastelands of rural France, the world of politics passes us by. No bad thing I have to say. Occasional murmurings about Jacques Chirac and his lack of activity reach us, as France prepare for next years presidential elections, and the Economist likes to remind us every week that Tony [...]

Following my enormous success with a earlier brief comments on politics in France - I am number one in Google for the expression ‘CPE strike’, which seems a bit excessive - I thought I had better turn my eye once again to politics.
I don’t want to return to the CPE problems, since the CPE has [...]

I’m not usually one to bring a political angle to my blogging, but today I think I will make an exception. Hundreds of thousands of French are on strike today, marching around the city centres, so I will appear either ignorant or stupid if I claim to be reporting about life in France while not [...]