RumziGal
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Posts posted by RumziGal
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Yes, there is a worrying rise in extreme right support. And yes, they are in power in some places. But they're NOT in power in a larger number of places.
True, the Front National got what, 10% of the French vote? But they didn't get the other 90%.
Sarko wants to throw out homeless sans-papiers, but there's plenty of public outcry against that.
So for the moment all is not lost. France is a huge country, there's plenty room for lots more, I think, and the more variety the better. The existence of tension is, I feel, a kipper rouge. There will always be tension between human tribes, even if it's only over which end of the egg they open.
If you're suggesting quotas (presumably for France?) what kind of basis would you do it on? Even if you ban non-French, you'd still have those nasty Parisians buying holiday homes! Or do you just ban holiday homes altogether?
Give us a business plan! [:D]
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Please, I don't want this to turn into a fight about whether Ryanair are good or not!
They happen to be the only company who fly direct to England from my part of France for most of the year, so they're the only company I use just now.
I'm just quite bemused by the way their website changes so regularly. It's gone roughly like this:
1. Fare + taxes.
2. Fare + taxes + wheelchair levy.
3. Fare + taxes + wheelchair levy + holiday insurance.
4. Fare + taxes + wheelchair levy + holiday insurance + baggage.
5. Fare + taxes + wheelchair levy + holiday insurance + baggage + priority boarding.
There was something on the news last night about a new ruling making it illegal to advertise e.g. "flights for 1p", they'll have to advertise the minimum that you actually have to pay, i.e. flight + taxes. Or is it flight+taxes+wheelchair levy? [:D]
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[quote user="Tag"]However you do not answer my basic point which is that large numbers of incomers change a community in ways which often cause tension and resentment, and not always for the better in my opinion. [/quote]
I'm not sure what answer you expect me to give. You seem to disapprove of incomers, yet you are one, are you not?
There are three basic options to dealing with large numbers of incomers:
1. Accept them as they are and make the most of it. Every culture has its potential dark side. You see drunkenness in Brits, Viscount de Villiers is more worried about the perceived threat of Islamisation from North Africans, Dieudonné sees goodness-knows-what danger from Jews.
2. Send them back where they came from.
3. Don't let them in in the first place.
It's really quite simple. I'll stick with option 1, because I'm soft like that.
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Ah yes, I see now, the 1p flights don't have a wheelchair tax.
Curiouser and curiouser! [:)]
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[quote user="Chipie"]
I'm not knocking Ryanair I think they are brill, where else would I have got 2 return tickets from Liverpool Limoges for £34.38[:P] including £2 each for priority boarding[Www]
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That's 4 flights. Did you not have to pay taxes then, or is that the price before the taxes? Please tell us how to avoid the taxes! [:)]
Usually it's £10 govt tax per person to leave the UK, plus the £3.50 wheelchair levy, plus another one I can't remember.
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[quote user="Tag"]
As regards having too many Brits in an area, of course there can be too many. The crunchpoint happens when they begin to change the local culture. [/quote]
But isn't that just the way the world works? I think you underestimate the amount of people-movement there is and always has been in the world. As individuals a house-move seems very special and interesting, especially if you have to cross a whole 20 miles of water to do it, but really it's nothing.
And too many Brits? That suggests that there is an ideal number of some sort. Maybe a quota - so who decides which Brits are worthy?
There have been waves of Spaniards, Italians, and North Africans into France. There's a sizeable Armenian contingent. And a Jewish community. A few thousand Sikhs. There are plenty Americans. Sarkozy's father was Hungarian. Romans, Vikings, Jews, they're all here (along with many others), either in person or legacy.
What makes the British so special? Get over it! [:)]
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[quote user="Dick Smith"]An expat lives in the country of their birth, wherever in the world they happen to be; the immigrant lives in the country he is in.
[/quote]Ooooohhhhhhh I'm cringing a bit here, Dick. North Africans are usually referred to as "immigrés" and are often criticised of bringing their way of life with them.
In Europe at least, I think it's more to do with colour. White people are expats, non-whites are immigrants.
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I don't think I've ever seen anyone even trying to put their hand luggage in one of those weighing racks. I was thinking about them because I saw one recently that actually had a set of scales underneath it. I think it was in Fez, but nobody used it there either!
They were also letting people through with bottles of water and goodness knows what else, unlike Europe.
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Can't remember how much, but yes, you pay for each item of luggage that gets checked in. It might be 5 euros for each flight, so 10 for a return?
I'm waiting for the day they start checking hand luggage. People are still taking some huge bags on, and some look suspiciously heavy!
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I've never used this, I'm just a watcher. Ryanair used to let people with children on first, didn't they? I hear no mention of that now when boarding, there's just the call for passengers who have paid for priority boarding, no mention of children at all.
Flying over on Sunday I'd say that the priority queue was nearly half as long as the non-priority queue. I wonder if the priority numbers will grow until it becomes the norm?
Not complaining, just observing with bemusement how they add to their profits.
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A pet is a lifestyle choice. A wheelchair usually isn't.
As for charging for things, have you tried Ryanair recently? And see how much it'll cost you to take your pet on a plane to the UK.
Honestly, you lot who only move as far as you could throw your cat anyway, you don't know you're born! [;-)]
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[quote user="Patf"]Or perhaps you are just referring to those brits who run the country down. [/quote]
Yes, those who run down all things British as a matter of principle.
There's no pride at all in the good things about Britain, it seems to be suffering from a massive inferiority complex. A little bit of self-belief would go a long way, I think.
Did anyone see the Doctor Who episode about Shakespeare? Brilliant! Bring Shakespeare back where he belongs, as part of everyday culture, and be proud of him! Encourage Morris Dancing, it's far more entertaining than most French equivalents - go on, admit it! [:D]
Could eat a bit slower though! [:D]
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But look how it's Brits who jump on things like this and say "There, I told you it was rubbish here!".
It's almost Pavlovian.
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If the general attitude of expats and what I see the UK press saying is typical, it's no wonder that British children feel bad. It's all they're ever told, how rubbish the country is. Always highlight the bad things, that's what it seems like.
Most of the grumbles I hear when I go back to the UK in fact come from freedoms that many other countries don't have. So get your act together, Brits, and look at what you DO have! Your children can only benefit. [:)]
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Afy, I think it's getting enough airtime as it is! [:)]
It's very handy for taking our attention away from the daily deaths in Iraq.
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[quote user="Gardian"]You're a bit cruel about Montpellier (but then, I don't live there). [/quote]
No, it's okay. It feels like the French equivalent of living in Darwin, that's all. Pleasant enough, but provincial and difficult to get anywhere from!
Peter's list of flights is very nice, but for someone to drop me off at Girona would mean them driving for 6 hours and paying about 40 euros motorway tolls.
But as you say, the trams are pretty. [:)]
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Sadly, they don't start till May 25th, and my contracts ends on June 8th! So I might manage my final trip home to France with FlyBe.
Montpellier really is NOT the place to be in winter, might as well be on the @*~*# moon! [:)]
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[quote user="Charlotte3"]
no family credit, housing benefit etc to shore up poor wages, we have the same life as our French colleagues,
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No you don't. There are millions of French people on the equivalent of these things (RMI, CAF handouts, etc etc etc). And I can't imagine that all your French colleagues have the comfort of years of British earnings behind them.
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And if your employer doesn't like you, he can invent a "faute grave" for you to have committed and get rid of you on the same day.
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A friend has just been to Mallorca on holiday with no problem. Daughter's passport was expired, but she took along her birth cert etc and they let her through.
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Sigh, Montpellier really is a no-man's land, isn't it? NOBODY wants to go there!
Guess I'm still stuck with Luton and the M1-M25-M3. It's quite relaxing once you're used to it. [;-)]
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Shampoo???
in Health
[quote user="Russethouse"]I think it was Dame Margot Fontaine who said that it was only good manners to always look ones best ! We can but try [:)]
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I guess it's like shaving your legs. Deep inside, I'm sure we all know it doesn't really make sense, but most of us still do it. Why? Why not!
I think too that in the hierarchy of unpleasant things, shampoo is pretty low down. I'd banish chocolate before shampoo.
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Yes, when you scratch the surface things are just as crazy.
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It is all most strange.
15 British soldiers get captured, roughed up a bit, and then are released again, you have to ask yourself where is the story?
Faye Turney felt bad at writing those letters? Oh really. She is a professional soldier. If she was briefed to co-operate, she was doing her job. If she co-operated out of fear for herself, you're going into different territory, about doing what you think is right. However, her alleged conscience evaporated pretty quickly in the face of £100 000. The lady is a mercenary, a soldierette of fortune! It's all minable.
The whole thing is only an issue because there's a woman involved anyway. Who ever said that women should rule the world? [:)]
Are There Too Many English In Our Hamlet !
in The Complete France Post Bag
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[quote user="Patf"]There is another element which comes into the argument when referring to british people as immigrants, and probably the dutch too. That is that most of us are wealthier than the average local. And of course this breeds envy and resentment. Pat.[/quote]
That's true. And North Africans are generally less well off, and that breeds another kind of resentment.
What can you do? [:)]