Noisette

Pffff...depending on the natural ability to esquive of the politician responding, is it worth the question? Subtract the hecklers who are there just to hear the sound of their own voices and I can't see it contributing much to the democratic process 😉

Utterly sensible replies from Lori and Gardian......Make your wishes known while you can (insofar as you know what they are at any given time). Then forget about the unpleasant implications of the future and live for the present. I do have a few regrets now, but I'm pretty certain that that is a result of France changing quite drastically compared to the country we came to 16 years ago. Trying to keep a balanced view, some aspects have improved, but not nearly as many as cause minor irritation every day. Then again, familiarity breeds not contempt, but complacency. A few days back in the UK would soon put things back in perspective 😁 I'm in the 'can't imagine living anywhere else' camp. Speak the language, have nationality, struck lucky with the area etc etc. I certainly can't imagine going through all the upheaval of getting established in a different country and above all not in UK.

Well the first vote was inconclusive. 15 'fors' were required out of the 27 for approval to be granted. France abstained, as did Belgium and Holland. Austria, Germany and Luxembourg voted against. The next vote will take place in November. If no accord is reached, approval expires on 15/12/23. https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2023/10/13/glyphosate-dans-l-ue-pas-d-accord-sur-la-reconduction-pour-dix-ans-de-l-autorisation-nouveau-vote-en-novembre_6194119_3245.html

Well well...who would have thought that the EU would approve glyphosate's continued use now that Bayer have the patent? 😋 Of course it doesn't follow that France will do a u-turn on their blanket ban from December.

Thanks Harnser 😊 You'll notice it hasn't changed ....🤣

I don't think it's humanly possible for French beef to get any worse It's not properly hung, presumably to maximise profit, so no amount of publicity about the race or animal welfare conditions will change anything

We did just the once when English football hooligans were getting a bad press in France....pretended to be Scottish 😄 Despite being 'French' now, we don't/can't talk to each other or other Brits in French...it just seems sooo pretentious.

Nope....I don't buy it. ****Generalisation alert **** ? The eastern/south eastern side of France is dearer in every way than the western /north western side. And the north. I can quite believe that it wouldn't work out in the long term for you, ALBF, but you're young! We were talking about Brits retiring...... And don't forget the gîtes! Everyone knows that you can top up your income by renting out an old barn to unsuspecting parisiens through the summer months ?

Really? You honestly believe that life in a rural area is more expensive than, say, Paris? I'd have thought that the only extra costs might be for transport and even that is offset by Metro/tram/bus costs. If 'growing your own' is something you enjoy doing, then the availability of land in France is still a big draw for some. How can it possibly be cheaper to live in a town or city and have to buy all your fruit, veg and eggs? As for the 'paysans', I lived part-time with a French family and trust me, their living costs were tiny, with the exception of carburant but that came under the heading of business costs anyway. There's a sort of network in the countryside, a give-and-take sharing which I find hard to imagine happening in urban areas. But, as always, it's down to personal choice. There are those who enjoy being in the 'earn lots of money/spend lots of money loop and those who don't. Live and let live ?

The hospitals and other facilities would be there anyway, wouldn't they? They're not built specifically to cope with the influx of Brit pensioners. Not wishing to be politically incorrect (God forbid), but when you see the list of incomers to France applying for French nationality, in the Journal Officiel, you'd be even more surprised by the proportion of Arabs, Africans, Portugese and every other nationality under the sun compared to Brits. Even if a high proportion of the applicants are here to work, it's not necessarily true of their entourages. De toute façon, now the cost of living has rocketed here, both the Brits and the French are seeking out cheaper climes! What goes around, comes around. We'll all be looking to move to Morocco ?

Hmmm....'live nicely on the equity'? Not for long. I would have thought that quite a few, like us, calculated the probability of being able to live modestly but comfortably on a couple of UK State pensions + a bit of privée. Effectively scuppered by whichever bar steward changed the goalposts for women's retirement age by 7 years. Not everyone here sold a property in London, you know ?

Nope....it's all the non-conforming fosses emptying out onto the fields, and the French men peeing absolutely anywhere but into a toilet cuve ?

Why failed dreams? Perhaps they realised their dreams, lived very happily and are buried in their local cemeteries? Or are stored in a local colombarium? Or their bodies were accepted by a local teaching hospital? Then there's always the compost heap ?

The article is behind a paywall/publicitywall but I get the gist. Another (temporary) option is to sell off belongings, until there are no more. It'll take a while for things to get that bad here, but it's on its way.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your family, ALBF, and fingers crossed that you escape the lurgy!

Alternatively, this comparateur was very helpful recently when I needed quotes for car and house insurance...https://www.lecomparateurassurance.com/ A lot depends on whether you're a 'pay the price and claim for everything' person, or a 'cheapest premium because you never claim' person ☺️

Agent provocateur sums it up, but a loveable one ?

Harvest or lay? ? Do you ever find, when you're chatting with yourself, that you both end up confused? ???

The 2.9m statistic includes domestic second home owners as well, yes? Ah...the Dutch ? God help the French if they have to rely on them to replace the Brit contribution to the economy!

I do hope you are able to get over here soon, HD. @ Gluestick...I appreciate the points you make, although the statistics in the link I posted are a little more up-to-date ?. But Brits aren't the only second-home owners to buy in France, either. Perhaps it's just this region, but the Dutch and Belgian part-timer presence is very high. I'm sure we're agreed that where there are holiday-home owners, there'll be family and friends visiting...all grist to the mill. Back to M Le Président....perhaps he's badly advised or simply doesn't realise how important the Brit input is/was? I wouldn't be surprised, because expecting someone in his position to be even remotely 'in touch' with the realities in France outside of Paris is laughable. Perhaps he considers the sabre-rattling and posturing for the benefit of Brussels to be more worthwhile (for him at least) than placating the potential bearers of Brit expenditure?

You're still not getting the point, despite the link. Foreign tourism isn't just about Brits. Granted, the Dutch probably aren't the highest-spending europeans to flock into France every year but neither, I suspect, were the Brits. I do know quite a few French directly involved in the tourist industry and they'd much rather have Belgian and German customers as they're more profitable. Not as profitable as Parisiens, though ? What on earth has my garden got to do with anything? As for mowing in January, nope.....downhill slalom possibly, aquaslide definitely, but not mowing ?

Are you perhaps exaggerating the importance of the British tourist to France's economy? Granted, it is a big slice, but not the only one. Best remember also that domestic tourism still accounts for a huge chunk. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourisme_en_France#:~:text=Une enquête publiée en juillet,la Suisse puis l'Espagne.

Ummm bonjour ? Coo the mornings aren't getting any lighter are they? Not quite the same thing here. The area I lived in in UK wasn't particularly insalubrious but at the start of the century, one third of all births recorded were to single 'mothers' under the age of 16. And they didn't stop at one offspring, or one father either, come to that. I am aware that breeding in France is profitable. I know a couple of medal-winners ?

Hello Pierre, the English equivalent is 'glug-glug' ? The Brits like to economise on ink ?

It's precisely because we are where we are that couples can choose to own a house instead of reproducing. Contraception and abortion have ensured that. Equally, when I left UK, it was a 'career choice' on the part of thousands of young, single girls to reproduce as a means to getting housed and fed at the expense of the State. It would be interesting to see what would happen to birth rates in both UK and France if child benefits were reduced or withdrawn altogether.