alittlebitfrench

Nope I am struggling. How does Gary Lineker know what was being spoken in 1930’s Germany ? Did he read a book or something ?Or is he just citing **** Germany because that is what everyone does when making a point of this nature ? The trouble with that is that it distots history and undermines the seriousness of what eventually happened. Does Gary know how migrants are being treated in France ? Ever been to Paris recently ? France does not want to take back migrants from the UK but expects Italy to take back their migrants. How does that work then ? How are migrants are being treated in the EU baltic countries ? It is well reported if you or Gary google it. It is not nice. It was reported some time back that Gendames or French police….or whoever were stealing the shoes off migrants on the French Italian border to deter them ? Does that happen in the UK ? So I think the UK is not that bad, well actually very good compared to other countries. There is only so much you can do with limited resources. So maybe Gary should read around the subject before saying stupidities. Or just stick to football maybe. Very easy to stop people smuggling into the UK.

Ummm. Is he right in what he says ? Are you joking me ? He implies that the present UK government’s policy on UK imigration to be the same as **** Germany policy in the 1930’s. You know where **** Germany went on to murder 6 million Jewish persons and 5 million POW’s. What are you on ? The UK puts up immigrants in hotels, give them heath care and some pocket money. Does France ? So I’m struggling to understand what overpaid Gary (1.4 million a year to talk about football) who also presented the football in Qatar and milked it….😶..what his problem is.

I don’t like talking about UK stuff on a French forum because it is not fitting. But Gary Lineker deserves a discussion….because there is a link with France. Soo I will add my thoughts. He is a complete and utter uneducated twãat. The brain dead idiot should stick to talking about some dumb off side rule in football that nobody cares about rather getting involved in politics that quite frankly when he tweets about makes him look more stupid than he already is. Go spend your millions Gary….and shut up. It is embarrassing. Especially for those who live in Europe. oooooh….I needed to get that off my chest. I feel better now.

I have tried all the searches I can think of. Unless you have a more precise location….I doubt very much we will find it. Unless it is for sale or abandoned. My problem is that I don’t really think it is a Châteaux…..in the traditional sense. It looks more like a large fancy house. A manoir or something like that. is their an award if I track it down ?

You are English living in the Pays Basque 🙄 Ho does one keep away from themselves ?

You could not pay me enough to buy a chateaux in France. Especially that one. One way ticket to bankruptcy. Back to the photo, I’m guessing it is 100 % in a place that you really really don’t want to live in. I like the three guys looking at it in the first photo. Lol. ´Who the **** could we sell that to’ ? ‘ I know, what about some Brits’. ’They could have their own Tv show’

Passing your driving test in France and you are still alive. That is going to be hard to beat. 😃

How do you stay away from anything English in France ?

Finding my way to work for my first day. That was from Montpanasse in central Paris to Gennevillers. I still today have no idea how I made it alive.

Thank you both for your advice. I forgot mention it is a hollowbody electric guitar. My acoustic is on a tripod stand…but I dont want to put the new guitar on such a stand. I don’t really want to put it on a wall either at the moment. It will do in the future. I have a four year old who is a permanent tornado in the house so it needs protection. At the moment it is stored in a hardcase but the case is laid horizontally on a comode. I am not keen putting the case vertically. Is that OK for a hollowbody ? It is not going to twist or anything ? I can’t play for a few months because I have knackered my hand. LOL.

I believe there are a few guitar players on this forum. Well I am gussing Dave is. So I got a new guitar for my birthday a month back. What is the best way to store it when not playing for lets say a month or more. Vertical or Horizontal….strings de-tuned ? I have googled it but there is lots of contradictory opinions. Any advice welcome. Kindest

You French residency is in the post 🤐

Im telling you it exists. I reckon because French businesses are run more by men and men in France like to show off their masculinity. Bit like when driving cars.

Thanks Dave… you said what I wanted to say. My daughter (top class student) is being pressurized by her school and the system into deciding her future career. She has no idea what she wants to do. She could be anything she wanted with her grades. But she is only 15 for feckîng sake. I keep telling her to ignore them and let time decide. Otherwise you will end doing something you hate. As Dave describes. And then end up in 30 years time protesting in Paris. People who like their careers tend not to want to retire. It is all about the French educational system. Its awful. Kids end up in jobs they dont want to do and it is soo difficult and expensive to change careers in France. The teachers, the students and the parents hate the system. Feckîing change it.

I bet the working environment in Danish companies is far less toxic than in French companies. I can’t begin to tell you how toxic they are. Which is half the problem. I bet most people in France are happy to retire at 67, 68 or later. They just want to retire from the toxicity of working in France/French companies. That is your problem. Another thing, I don’t have a state pension. I have never believed in them. In fact they are a big con. I sorted that problem out myself. All comes back to the educational system in France IMHO. Fix that, and you halfway to solving all the problems France has. On another note but kinda relevant, some German students (13-16 year olds) visted my little girls school. They could all speak fluent English. Fluent. My daughter said they were fluent. There are no fluent English speakers at my daughters school. Or my sons for that matter. Or German or Spanish speakers. Ask any French school kid what is the hardest lesson at school, and most will say French. French is not going to get a job when you already speak it.

Your youngest born (i guess ?) and bred in France should be given nationality by default. And it kinda makes my point. Becoming a pompier is going to add positively to French society. An elderly British couple in the Dordogne walking their dogs and watching sky all day don’t really contribute much. So I don’t see the point of clogging up the system for something they don’t need.

A few things here… The change has to come from employers in the sense that they have to employ older people. And also treat them with respect. Get made redundant above the age of 50 and you will struggle to get a job. Especially in business or tech businesses that you are trained in. So how do you get to retirement age paying into the system without a job ? OH who is senior director level will not last until she is 67. She will have a burnout. Like most people in France in such jobs. The working environment is toxic in France. Which is part of the problem. The main reason I gave up my career in France. No way would I work in business in France. I would end up in jail for GBH. Also, commuting in Paris (for example) kills you. Ever seen the film Fallen Down ? I would not put up with what my wife puts up with in her job….or rather sees. They treat each other like shît. Lastly, if you are a roofer ….do expect a roofer to still go onto roofs at 65 ? Essentially, the whole employment system is at fault not really the retirement age.

My mum has dementia which actually started this debate. I agree that it is worse for close relatives than for the individual themselves. She seems perfectly happy going mad with her cat. The cat is everything. Everyone else is secondary. Which is fine by me. We just try and make sure she is safe. How long that will last….I have no idea.

Big strike next Tuesday. Historic they say. The whole country will come to a grinding halt…so they say. So who’s side are you on ?

But why when you don’t have any experience of the isues under contention ? It is all about schooling. One thing I have learnt as an immigrant/expat /Johney foreigner is don’t get involved in French politics, French social issues…or just anything related to how France is run. Keep quiet. Accept on a forum of course. The British with or without French nationality should just stay out of the debate. Complicated is France…and the French really don’t like others sticking their noses in. Even Mrs ALBF. Even the little ALBF’s. So yeah, getting French nationality to vote is quite pointless.

Your last point brings us back to the Brexit vote. I think when you reach a certain age (myself included) you let the younger generation decide. I still think that the majority of those Brits of a certain age seeking French nationality should be excluded because it is not relevant to their lives and it clogs the system. And they dont seem to have the expérience of France to make any informed decision. So should these types have the vote ? Should they have a say on my kids or my other halves future ? Have they grown up in France an understand the main issues. Well no. A former member of this forum still spills his shît in other places telling us us all to break the law and not pay this that and the other. Giving unworthy advice to those seeking advice. No kids, not married knows nothing apart from the shell he lives in. Given his own self admiration of his French skills, and if someone told him the birthdate of Nepolean could potentially get French nationality. Being a fighter for France, pay all my taxes, make people smile and laugh when out and about, have a crit air sticker on all my cars and van, cross my t’s and play by the rules…I…..find that quite unsettling.

You want the right to vote ? Who you going to vote for ? People in France only vote to stop the FN from getting into power. Other than that, nobody really gives a shît IMHO. Politics in France has not changed since I moved here in 1998 and I guess from the day my wife was born. That was 50 years ago tomorrow. Happy birthday ALBF wife. Are you going to for vote for yourself or French children ? Should a British type in there lasting years have a vote for the future of French kids ? Bit like the Brexit vote. no ? Schooling/education is the biggest problem in France, do you have the knowledge to make the right voting decision ? In terms of ephad. It costs a lot of money. 4k a month for the basics. We are going through this with an elderly French relative that is not long from needing care and protection. I get your point regarding the woman living in Sweeden. I reached 50 a month back and I am already thinking about the future. I wonder how many people think about these issues when moving to France. I am not ending up in an ephad dancing to Johney Halliday songs.

I do agree. There is a case for those of us married to a French person and have kids to get French nationalty. I mean to protect the kids in any unforeseen events. But I personally would not do it. I like being British in France and the French like me being British in France. The kids love me being British. French nationality won’t change who I am or bring anything to the table. Retired British peeps in the Dordogne or wherever don’t need French nationality and they are stupid to think they do. They really tend to know nothing about France or had to go through the daily grind of French life. So how can they suddenly become French by knowing when Napoleon was born ? Sell a house in the UK, buy a nice stoney house with a pool and a big garden and paint their shutters Provence blue and then get French nationality. Then spend all day patronising peeps on Brit forums telling everyone how crāp the UK is. Oh yes, that is really typical French behaviour. I bet most will return to the UK so they don’t have to end up in a French ehpad anyway. BTW, most French love the UK, so why slag it off all the time just because you have French nationality ? More French live in the UK than Brits do in France. They are also the biggest investors in property in the UK. Also, do these self serving muppets realize they are clogging the French administration system up for others. There are thousands of people in France in desperate need of French nationalit to live and work. The British don’t need it. It is not life threatening. It will have no bearing on your life. For others in desperate need in France, it does. So yeah, I can’t stand these peeps. Anyway, that is my rant over.

Thanks Hectorsdad for your very kind words about my mum. Regarding your first points, I think you are right about it adds to the entertainment of the trip. I do very much like BF and I think the staff that work on board are excellent. I used work closely with truckline (BF freight division) and the staff their were great to work with too. Overall it is a superb company. Anyway, maybe it is a new phenomena that I am spotting (being French) is due to Brexit 🤐 I have not been on ferries so much since the 90’s.

I get your point. But, I took my daughter to Camden Town last summer and there was a proper French Boulangerie. I told my daughter to go and order something but she had to order in French. Otherwise she pays. You know proper French that only French people speak…..not Chancer French. French ! I wanted to see what would happen. It was a social experiment. They were obviously French born. Do you know what, they were quite miffed to be spoken to in the UK in French by a French person. It was like, you are in the UK….try and speak some English. I can speak English can you uhhh. I stepped in and spoke in English and then they got what was happening. I should grow up. Their croissants almande were better than those you can get in France. They were huge and very tasty.