NormanH Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 It is easy to think that the picturesque towns and mild climate of the Languedoc imply the good life, but in fact they hide crippling poverty.I often think that this part of the South of France is like the impoverished parts of the North of England but with sun ..."Championne de la pauvreté : Béziers. Le négoce de la vigne a périclité, la ville s'est transformée et ne s'est pas aperçue qu'elle plongeait dans la misère."https://www.lexpress.fr/emploi/gestion-carriere/les-10-agglomerations-les-plus-pauvres_2039592.htmlAccording to this https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2016/12/22/2483955-selon-etude-beziers-est-ville-plus-pauvre-occitanie.htmlun taux de pauvreté de 43,7% (32 600 habitants)[:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Norman I agree with your comment "I often think that this part of the South of France is like the impoverished parts of the North of England but with sun."Although I think the north of England has less dog poo on the pavements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 I reckon you are right about that [:'(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Should have bought in Annecy, Norman! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 And as well as Beziers, there are many rural areas around here, also not amongst the rich of the world. Be that because of lack of jobs, or because their livelihoods are very weather dependent doesn't matter, neither give security long term, which means the young often have to move away to find work, leaving only the old and retired to live in these regions. There are also many young families, with perhaps only one wage earner, if they are lucky, so no spare money. There are reasons why the very popular bar à vins around here sell a glass of wine for only 1 euro, and that's not just because wine is cheap here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Most of the young people are stuck in the Boboknows where shyteholes because they have been failed by the education system that turns out far too many illitrits and because there is a sad culture of family solidarity that also tries to keep them in these places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lehaut Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Just come back from a 4 weeks motorbiking tour down south, which included a week in Corsica. Did part of the south a couple of years ago, this time based ourselves in the North. We went off the beaten track a couple of times high up into the hills and perched villages. Stopped off at a run down bar, corrrigated cement roof, massive church in the village and another one less than a km across the other side of the valley. Chatted to the owner, the other three customers had left, not another sole in sight. He kept his establishment open all year and I was tactfully trying to find out how on earth he made a living. Turns out he kept a herd of 50 beef cows on the east side of the island. The last holiday he had cost 2500 for the cruise and another 2500 on the "ships credit card" which he gave to his family whenever they asked. He certainly looked poor, but its difficult to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 We lived in an Eastern country for a few years where a popular adage was: "If a ragged old man knocks on your door, be nice to him. He's probably your landlord" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 Agree that circumstances are not always what they seem or look like, and that the French are very good at hiding their wealth from the tax man, but even so, I've heard them talking about the difficulty of getting jobs, the distances they have to travel to get them, sometimes as far as Montpellier and Toulouse, and further .. but I will confess I do not see the seemier side of life in my usual day to day activities. If I were a young French person though, will the skills and knowledge, I know where I would be going if I want to make something of my working life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lehaut Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I am trying not to make this an age thing, as our children wildly disagree with my generalisations, but. Whilst touring we have had several conversations with French people about the attitude of younger people to work. One had got her neighbours daughter a job, with pay and "prospects". Her parents had bought her a car but she could not be bothered to drive the 40min each way to the work place. Another who teaches in a local business college quoted one employer who had a girl say she was taking a long weekend to spend it with friends, when told she was not entitled, she just left the job!. In Nantes during the summer we saw flyers everywhere looking for temporary staff, have read there are other 100,000 illegals working in these positions as the locals "CBA"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Lehaut,Not a surprise, in spite of what I said before. They think that the chomage will pay up, evermore, but as is happening everywhere, the state assistance, even in somewhat still generous France will not go on forever in the current modern world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Oddly, a young lad I've known since he was in primary school, and whose life hasn't necessarily been a bed of roses, due to losing his father when he was still small, has grown up (in all senses of the term) in our hamlet.After quite a few years of half-hearted study, followed by making zero effort to find work and spending most of his life in bed, he finally had a moment of lucidity and got a job. Since then, I've never seen him happier, he's become a proper "man" and even my neighbour tells me he admitted he'd just been wasting his life and, looking back, realised he was being an idiot. As I said the other day, my farming neighbours who have inherited the farm from his parents have had two shocking years and, as a result, both husband and wife plus their eldest son have all gone out and got second jobs to make ends meet. They're obviously still running the farm, too. Just goes to show, it's not everyone who expects the state to provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Yes, my comment was some equalised. As in all things, there's some that will and some that won't, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 The British move to France for a better quality of life and then move to the poorest areas in France. Cheap houses comes to mind !!! Anywhere outside of a major French city will be poorer or as poor as the poorest areas of the UK.Yes, that includes the Dordogne. Sorry Mint.France is a poor but at the same time a very expensive country to live in.Double whammy.Stick to the cities if you are moving to France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 << The British move to France for a better quality of life and then move to the poorest areas in France. Cheap houses comes to mind !!! >>Oh, not that hobbyhorse again! Rein it in, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 [quote user="alittlebitfrench"]The British move to France for a better quality of life and then move to the poorest areas in France. Cheap houses comes to mind !!! .[/quote]What a cheap and snobbish remark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 ALBF ain't no snob thank you.I doubt many haved lived in the areas that we have.Just making (possibly the same point gardengirl) as usual.France outside of major cities is very poor. Who wants to dispute that ?Please watch the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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