Better to be English or French?

[Baggycat]

Diesel prices haven't moved here yet, still at £1.309/litre.

Independents are saying that they will "lower their prices in due course"!

[Baggycat]

Latest update - just been up to fill up for the airport tomorrow morning

Tesco have lowered their prices by a whopping .... 2p a litre!

So while you fortunate frogophiles have seen a drop of 14c, ca 11p, we have managed a drop of 2p.

Anyone think that this is right?

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Oh, you must be a Tesco shareholder then!

[RicandJo]

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]Don't forget that Carcassonne and environs is choc full of immigrants and the rest are those miserable bleeding French!

Danny

[/quote]

Well now I have been in france for 15 weeks now, and must say I haven't come across any so called 'miserable bleedin French'.  I (we) have been invited into more people's homes, to more parties and get togethers and met more super people than we did in 7 years living in a similar sized village in Somerset.  I've never met such a friendly and happy bunch as the French around here.

[mint]

"Somerset" says it all.  When we lived in Taunton, the only people whose houses we got invited to were Londoners or people from other parts of the UK than Somerset.

[RicandJo]

I should add the only (very few) people we've met here whom we've walked away from thinking 'well you're just a chuffin idiot' have been English...........

[Pads]

Thanks Richard  [:P] I wondered why you hadnt been in touch [;-)]

[Danny]

[quote user="RicandJo"][quote user="Jane and Danny"]Don't forget that Carcassonne and environs is choc full of immigrants and the rest are those miserable bleeding French!

Danny

[/quote]

Well now I have been in france for 15 weeks now, and must say I haven't come across any so called 'miserable bleedin French'.  I (we) have been invited into more people's homes, to more parties and get togethers and met more super people than we did in 7 years living in a similar sized village in Somerset.  I've never met such a friendly and happy bunch as the French around here.

[/quote]

Hi RicandJo

Sorry...maybe my irony/sarcasm flag was not posted high enough for you to see...

Danny

[RicandJo]

[quote user="Pads"]Thanks Richard  [:P] I wondered why you hadnt been in touch [;-)][/quote]

No Pads.......I didn't mean you lot! But of course you know that. [:D]

[Baggycat]

Well, back from Carcassonne and lots of things learned. Not the least that to hit the ground running over there you have to be fluent in French... so lessons start in September!

Carcassonne centre and Cité were very nice, but we wouldn't want to live there too big and too messy outside the centre.

The places we did like were Limoux and Mirepoix so we will go back early next year and have another look - when better armed with the language.

As for working over there? It is clear that the French don't spend oodles of dosh on their houses so I'm not even going to bother going down the furniture route.

We have a number of other options, but unfortunately my father-in-law was fairly disinterested in the whole idea, so unless we went to Limoux or Quillan where there is a sizable English contingent it would be impossible to take him... and for the time being, if he isn't going then neither are we!

We will plan longer term, spend more time over there, become fluent - I was surprised how much French I remembered! - and plan slowly.

Thanks for all your comments and advice, at least we won't have to worry about the inheritance situation!

[Judith]

[quote user="Baggycat"]- I'm also a qualified Apple Service Engineer. [/quote]

Just caught up with this thread.  This might be a better route to chose than furniture, especially since there seem to be many good artisan furniture makers already in France.  There are a growing number of IT people also, but whether they do Apple is another moot point, my guess is possibly not.  Could be worth the research.

But - as has already been said - don't forget the cost of setting up a business in France, and the inheritance rules.

Taking time to learn French will be useful whatever you decide to do in the end!!

[Baggycat]

Well, the £ - € has certainly made it impossible to contemplate a move, even if other factors had been in our favour.

One thing that I have had though in recent weeks is a lot of calls and emails from French estate agents offering significantly reduced prices on their properties.

Either they were vastly overpriced in the first instance or the property market is imploding, I suggest that it may be a combination of the two. Either way, the prices being offered now still don't amount to the same prices as were effective in August when the exchange rate was more appropriate.

It will be an interesting year, no doubt, in French property, but I can't foresee that being an agent selling predominantly to Brits will be much of an earner.

[Panda]

[quote user="Baggycat"]. It will be an interesting year, no doubt, in French property, but I can't foresee that being an agent selling predominantly to Brits will be much of an earner.[/quote]

I know of someone who has not sold a single property in a whole year, it is not the business to be in anywhere selling to anyone it would seem!

[Baggycat]

Strikes me he or she is about to become an expert in bankruptcy... now there's an up and coming profession, there'll be plenty of work for the business undertakers this year!