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Harrassment


Angie
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[quote user="idun"]

Anyway, I really don't believe that you are against denouncing, I would jure that you would if you saw someone hurting and abusing an animal. I reckon that  you'd  straight onto the proper authorities without batting an eyelid.

[/quote]

Funny enough I was thinking the same think but then it appears not to be the case. [:D]

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No need to put a chain across which would only inconvenience me, i could just tell them to stop, problem is they would just park in front of my property and do the same as they did before, the only difference now is that they are better camoflaged but it doesnt seem to have afected their hit rate, they have registered the peoples speed well before they are capable of seeing them, including myself on my pushbike!

To me they  took a liberty because they started using the parking whilst I was away in the UK and just carried on as if they had the right, maybe they do? Anyway i thought long and hard about it and given my situation here I would rather have them on my side than against me so I let them know quite firmy that I am according them a priveledge because I support what they are doing, and I do, I am opposite a factory that has 1500 workers, there are 4 passage pietons either side of my property in close succession where the workers have to take their lives in their hands every lunchtime, the miscreants are often their colleagues, there have been numerous accidents one nearly fatal, its only a question of time.

The worst time is Friday lunch time when they finish their shift for the week, its like the start of the Baja 500, yet its the one day that they are not rushed to get home, eat and return for the clock card.

Its not just the speeding which far and away is mainly by the women drivers its that combined with the fact that no-one will actually stop for pedestrians on the crossings, I laughed at the new law that says pedestrians have priority now anywhere on the road more than 50 metres from a crossing, I am currently training for a half marathon Sunday week i have to run across several pedestrian crossings, I dont want to stop and lose my pace so i try and time it so I only step out when cars are a long way away, they dont ever stop and i have had several close ones.

Christine is right regarding it being taken badly, and I now have a second corbeau (poison pen letter writer) I dont consider it denonciation and neither does he as they are calling me a collaborator, I have also been told to my face twice that no-one from the factory will ever rent one of my apartments, as i said to me it is not denonciation but certainly hypocritical given the way that I drove for most of my life before having to live on half the seuil de pauvreté.

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 CA, sometimes in life one gets ideas about people and their dependablitly and even  if I disagree with you about some things, I always thought that on one point that you were someone very dependable and that was where animals are concerned.

Being 'sure' of this seemed reasonable to me.

I do hope that you are not telling me otherwise, as you believe it would make you a grass or a snitch? If I was wrong about you I shall be very disappointed, but only  in myself for poor judgement.

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Crikey - this thread has gone way off track! Speed humps, speed traps, the toilet habits of dogs and now the Gestapo!

Anyway.....I was just wondering....if Steve....will be showing his postings on this thread to any prospective purchasers? ....should knock a few grand off the sale price!

Then there's French Capital Gains Tax (and possibly UK if he's in a high income band)....heck, it just gets worse.....

Neighbours hey - who'd have em!?

Simon :-)

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There is an old say "you can choose your friends but not your family", well I think neighbours should be included in the family bit. One of ours has just come out of chokey after trying to kill his wife and kids last summer by burning them alive indoors but thought better of it after pouring petrol all over the beds and downstairs. Not exactly someone you want to live nearby but then he didn't start out like that when he moved here 17 years ago and we all became good friends.

Good thread this, gives everyone something to talk about and its so hot and humid outside so we are all getting grumpy too
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[quote user="Chancer"]

Christine is right regarding it being taken badly, and I now have a second corbeau (poison pen letter writer) I dont consider it denonciation and neither does he as they are calling me a collaborator, I have also been told to my face twice that no-one from the factory will ever rent one of my apartments, as i said to me it is not denonciation but certainly hypocritical given the way that I drove for most of my life before having to live on half the seuil de pauvreté.

[/quote]

Thank you for your reply Chancer.  I also dislike people flying past but you, not you personally nor Woolly, see things through the British way of life.  All I'm trying to explain is that it is not the same here.  Trying to help the gendarmes catch someone out as they pass, maybe looking at themselves in the mirror, thinking of something that worries them, whatever, just not paying attention as we all do and not deliberatly doing  something wrong, is not appreciated.

Take an example.  On an evening with friends to dinner we say we are pleased and grateful to invite the gendarmes in our driveway to catch anyone going past over the limit.  There would certainly be a sort of embarrassed silence.  Some would go gulp, some would say nothing, others might say "mais c'est dégueulasse".

Now if we were to say we had complaints that someone down the road was starving his dog or beating it to death, most of them would probably say that something should be done about it.

If your house was burgled, you would call the gendarmes to catch them.  This has nothing to do with trying to catch everyone out on the road.  You are once again going to extremes and comparing that which is not comparable.

To make things clear with Idun.  The situation with animals has rarely happened to me.  Once as I have already posted on here a neighbour called asking if there was an SPA to inform about another neighbour's dog who had no shelter.  I went round and explained this to the dog's owner and he put up a "sort of shelter".  Another neighbour's dog was tied up right in the hot sun and I informed them that this was not acceptable and moved her into the barn so that she could go in and out of there (her owners had died and she is now with us).  I suppose if nothing had been done I would have had to go further, but they would have been informed beforehand.  There is a difference.

 

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I agree that its not the same here Christine, not sure however that I am seeing things in the British way, or even the French way, I have my own unique perspective and as the French say I have turned my shirt around so many times to suit the prevailing conditions I now have to wear my trousers backwards.

Suffice to say that in my current position I dont need any hassle from the Gendarmes, one of whom is a friend,  I dont actually have any neighbours in the normal sense of the word to be concerned with, given the sort of stories that the locals invent about me anyway and what comes through the boîte à lettres from the 2 corbeaus many are going to think what they think or belive what they hear regardless.

Unless I have misread your posting I dont understand why you think I am going to extremes and comparing the uncomparable.

Finally I dont see my tacit approval of the contrôle vitesse as being denonciation in any way, un collaborateur maybe, to me denonciation would be grassing someone up for working on the black etc, have I misunderstood the word?

Editted, I have often implored the gendarmes to set up their contrôles at other times like 19.OO although they do now shoot fish in a barrel at noon on Fridays, if you could have seen the cars whizzing past tonight at 19.00 returning from their jobs in other towns you would not put it down to inattention, there are pedestrian crossings every 200m here and they just hammer through all of them, then you get the bikers that come through en plein regime to hear their exhausts resonating off the side of the factory and the tall buildings including mine (mind you I used to do that also), one day I will have to go out and scrape one up with a shovel, some of them are Fireblades and Blackbirds whose engines I have used in my race cars, I am very familiar with the sound and the gearing, they are bouncing off the rev limiter in 4th outside my place, upchanging to 5th for brief squirt before grabbing 6th and decelerating, well over 160km/h and the limit is 50km/h

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Believe me there are parts of the UK where the Police are not popular and helping them in anyway would be frowned upon or have repercussions.

I lived in France long enough to know how people felt about a lot of things, that apparently were 'impossible en France!!'

The first was that there would be no 'fast food' in France, and then our Grand Cafe became Mcdo's. The list is endless as people adapt to changes in society. Look at the smoking ban and how that is respected. And the sad truth is there are far too many road deaths in France. My son's have had too many friends die in road accidents, unbelieveable really. And speeding and drinking and driving are two of the main causes. I was there when the drapeau blanc campaign started, and there have been campaigns since, some against the 'massacre sur la route' and that is serious.

I also understand how french people like driving, I do, I also know how having their child killed has more or less ruined the parent's life and in one case a brother and a sister in the crash. So rale and complain about the gendarmes, but please, they are trying to save lives and understand that if it is degueulas then tant pis, get over it.

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As it happens Chancer as I read the posts there are about three or four motorcycles hammering up and down the track on the other side of the river and the noise is appalling.

Denouncing, grassing or whatever to me means you pick on an individual. Having a speed trap outside your door is something quite different. Personally I don't have a problem 'grassing' somebody if I feel it just. I have no problem reporting British cars who have not registered their car in my area yet insure it in France and get a CT. A subject covered many times on the forum in the past but you know what, if ever they knock somebody over and either maim or kill them it will be me or one of my family so I have no problem reporting them. To me its a type of self preservation if you like. There are other things people do that I wouldn't bother with but there are some thinks I would because of a personal interest if you catch my drift. In fact I might now go give the Gendarmes a call for these blinking bikes, it's upsetting my guests which could cost me money.

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I just wanted to sympathise with your problem, as we too have had harrassment from our 2 neighbours. We went to see the Maire who told us that they "complain about everything, so call the police if they bother you again"!

We've lived for 3 years with problem neighbours, it has got to the point where we just want to tell them to "go forth and multiply", but have so far managed to bite our tongues.

Why should we integrate with people, trying to be friends - would we do this if we still lived in England? We never had any problems from our neighbours in England, we had a very nice little cul de sac where the motto was live and let live.

With so much distance between us and our neighbours I can't see why there should be a problem. I think the only problem is that they're French and we are not.

Good luck
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So mogs...what WOULD you do if you lived in England and the same situation arose in your own little 'Knots Landing'.....? Oh and by the way - the problem is not that 'they are French and you are not' - the problem is that you have made no effort to resolve things yourself. Running to teacher (the Maire) just won't cut it! Deal with the situation - no good biting your tongues! Maybe, just maybe, integrating and making friends might have given you a whole different and more positive experience. Give me strength !

Simon :-)

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Mogs I don't think that that is the problem, you not being french. Believe me noisey horrible neighbours upset everyone. We were the only anglais in our village and yet we knew lots of people who had problem neighbours. My friend spent thousands and thousands of euros taking hers to court and won every time and then they would appeal and it would all start again. Trouble is that you do not get compensation via the courts.

Maybe the difference in the french countryside is those shotguns, one lot of our friends was menaced with a shot gun when they complained and the problem is that it is hard to 'prove' that this has happened. They said nothing else, as, as they said, if the looney neighbour did shoot, then they or one of them would be injured or killed and it wasn't worth it.

And distance, well sometimes the geography of a place  makes it worse, the sounds appearing louder and echoing too.

I've sometimes wondered if one shouldn't be obliged to live a month in a property before buying it.

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[quote user="Quillan"]

As it happens Chancer as I read the posts there are about three or four motorcycles hammering up and down the track on the other side of the river and the noise is appalling.

Denouncing, grassing or whatever to me means you pick on an individual. Having a speed trap outside your door is something quite different. Personally I don't have a problem 'grassing' somebody if I feel it just. I have no problem reporting British cars who have not registered their car in my area yet insure it in France and get a CT. A subject covered many times on the forum in the past but you know what, if ever they knock somebody over and either maim or kill them it will be me or one of my family so I have no problem reporting them. To me its a type of self preservation if you like. There are other things people do that I wouldn't bother with but there are some thinks I would because of a personal interest if you catch my drift. In fact I might now go give the Gendarmes a call for these blinking bikes, it's upsetting my guests which could cost me money.

[/quote]

Well said - personally I would have no problem at all letting the gendarmes / flics use any of my land to try and catch speeding / illegal motorists. I would gladly go out on the road with them (if they'd have me?!?) to nick those morons who drive without licences and / or insurance. I'd love it - not sure what the term is for that?

Simon :-)

 

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So mogs...what WOULD you do if you lived in England and the same situation arose in your own little 'Knots Landing'.....? Oh and by the way - the problem is not that 'they are French and you are not' - the problem is that you have made no effort to resolve things yourself. Running to teacher (the Maire) just won't cut it! Deal with the situation - no good biting your tongues! Maybe, just maybe, integrating and making friends might have given you a whole different and more positive experience. Give me strength !

 

Thats pretty unfair, plenty of people 'report ' their neighbours in the UK. One person reported us because my OH works from home, another because our shrubs over hung the pavement.

I've reported neighbours because they kept animals in unsanitary conditions, and several people have contacted the police about the woman opposite because of her threatening behavior - thats life.

I don't consider it anything odd, over 25 years its not been that great a problem......

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[quote user="Chancer"]

I agree that its not the same here Christine, not sure however that I am seeing things in the British way, or even the French way, I have my own unique perspective and as the French say I have turned my shirt around so many times to suit the prevailing conditions I now have to wear my trousers backwards.

Suffice to say that in my current position I dont need any hassle from the Gendarmes, one of whom is a friend,  I dont actually have any neighbours in the normal sense of the word to be concerned with, given the sort of stories that the locals invent about me anyway and what comes through the boîte à lettres from the 2 corbeaus many are going to think what they think or belive what they hear regardless.

Unless I have misread your posting I dont understand why you think I am going to extremes and comparing the uncomparable.

Finally I dont see my tacit approval of the contrôle vitesse as being denonciation in any way, un collaborateur maybe, to me denonciation would be grassing someone up for working on the black etc, have I misunderstood the word?

[/quote]

You misunderstood me a little Chancer.  I probably explained badly in a hurry.  I meant you (in general) are seeing things the British way, but not you or Wooly, as I know you both see things differently.

I didn't mean you were going to extremes comparing the uncomparable, but others comparing with say cruelty to an animal, which would be just one case when this is the general public driving past.

I know it's not considered really as a denonciation to have the gendarmes there, that's why I said (can't see my post now) something like it's a sort of "denouncing".  I understand your problem and it would certainly make my blood boil too, but I still wouldn't have the gendarmes there to catch just anybody.  Keep you trousers on the right way round, we'll have to find a better solution!

 

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Just to add to the polemique, I just dont get this whole anger thing about the British or any other nationality not registering their vehicles yet insuring them and CT'ing them, so what! - live and let live I say

Unless I have misread your posting and it would appear to be my day for it (overtired) I am really surprised at you Quillan, not that you would grass someone for it, whatever floats your boat its all part of live and let live, its the bit about running people over, maiming and killing them etc, reminds me of Harry Enfield and the self righteous brothers s'ennervéing, (sorry for the Franglais) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKfLyz0ip3o

Their vehicle is insured and tested why are they more likely to maim someone, and if they did the poor victim would be no more disadvantaged by the registration status of their vehicle.

Unregistered, uninsured and untested I also would denounce especially if I thought they were drinking and driving

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[quote user="Chancer"]

Just to add to the polemique, I just dont get this whole anger thing about the British or any other nationality not registering their vehicles yet insuring them and CT'ing them, so what! - live and let live I say

[/quote]

Well without dragging the whole subject up again basically they may have bought insurance but after anywhere between 30 and 60 days it technically becomes invalid if they don't change their registration to a French one. This means that anyone run over, killed or maimed, neither they or their families will get any compensation etc. My point also being that not being one of the most luckiest people in the world these things always tend to happen to me i.e. I wouldn't get hit my a properly registered, insured etc French car, no, it will be some jerk who thinks they are being clever and saving money by not registering their car. Likewise having registered one for a friend it's not exactly difficult so there really is no excuse.

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[quote user="Christine Animal"]

Another thing that gets me are those British cars that fly through France at such a speed so they can say they did Calais - Nice or wherever in such and such a time.  One hit a couple of French retraités in their car and killed them.

 

[/quote]

If you're going to be pedantic I think you will find that the French kill more of their own on the roads than drivers from other countries . Also theres only one r in harassment. [Www]

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