Living in Brittany

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04/28/2007

Tough week

Its been a tough week it started with my mother in law Hildagard falling over last Sunday and broke her pelvis ( she lives with my brother in Cornwall ) so she went to Barnstaple hospital and had a hip operation on the Monday then on Wednesday evening Xav was just talking to Paulien when he keeled over in pain so when it didn't ease rang the doctor but they don't seem to do home calls so it was off to Lannion hospital where they have a standby doctor, she examined him and said its not this or that prescribed some painkillers and charged us 63€. He was still in pain next day so off to our local doctor jumped the queue got him examined and it was off to the clinic in Lannion. ( The clinic is private but our insurance covers it ) There Paulien had a 2 hour wait then another hour of blood tests,x-rays and ultra scan then suddenly a rush and Xav was wheeled off for an operation for his appendix's removal. So overall wasn't particularly impressed with the French system but its OK once they have a diagnosis so now Xav is back home hobbling around like an old man.
Our new (secondhand from ebay ) mower is excellent cuts the grass in wet conditions and looks to be a well made machine and they even have an agent in Guingamp although its a British made mower and as its nice to drive not short of volunteers for grass cutting

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04/24/2007

Its the Sarko SEngo show

Sunday was a beautiful day with blue skys as I sat in the terrace outside the PMU sipping my coffee watching the locals vote. We are allowed to pay taxes here but can only vote in local and European elections very democratic. Talking to french friends no one really says who they vote for and they class Sarko in the same mould as Le Pen and I guess its more fashionable to be left wing in France. Brittany generally votes for the socialists as does the SW of France whereas Sarko was strong in the north and the industrial areas.Most of our friends admit to a french malaise and would like change but don't want anything which effects the quality of life such as longer working hours.Sarko is like a Thatcher a very clever politician spoke a lot of right wing rhetoric in the first round and cut into the support of Le Pen ( its still worrying that over 10% vote fascist in France ) and in the next round will woe the centre for votes. For me Sengo just doesn't cut it as a politician and her economic package doesn't add up. France has massive debt for years when ever they have tried to reform something they have always backed down and thrown more money at the problem. The farmers and other minorities have had far too much influence , when ever a foreign company shows interest in buying a french one the goverment arranges a forced marriage, the latest is for GDF ( the gas company ) to buy Suez l'eau ( the water company). Over half the work force is working for the government as it still has shares in Renault, France Air,SNCF the list is endless.Trying to employ someone just for a couple of hours is ridiculously complicated as we found out its easier and cheaper to give a bit of cash then the nightmare of ploughing through the forms to fill, initiative isn't really encouraged school education consists of learning by rote and reproducing the facts. I'm beginning to sound like a Thatcherite but that is what France is going to have a dose of as it has realised the world doesn't owe France a living.
I visited my accountant last week for annual chat it was something he said which summed up the problems of France he had his annual moan about the shop Brico Depot we use ( its owned by Kingfisher and is probably 30% cheaper than the other builder suppliers ) so we get a receipt everytime we go giving us an enormous pile of them. He would much prefer if we used Mateco and got a monthly ticket or even worse CMB a dreadfully expensive and inefficient supplier also very expensive. But much easier paper work for him.

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04/09/2007

Surprise Birthday

WE have one group staying this week they rented all the gites so there are 40+ on site it is a bunch of friends from uni and they arranged a surprise birthday for one of them ,Ted. They all arrived earlier and were hidden in the big house garden when Ted arrived he was thinking it was a gite holiday organised by his wife and nothing else . So me and Paulien do our chit chat bit pointing out the house and "why not look at the garden " and he turns to be met by his college mates . What excitement we have.
The local farmer on the co0rner Raymond who has a suckler herd of Charolais has a dissident bunch of calves this year since they were born about 4 months ago 4 of them have been wandering around regardless of the electric fences the only time he moves them is when they wander into his cauliflower field and as its mixed ownership there are patches of winter corn colza ( rapeseed oil ) growing and it doesn't seem to bother his conscience. One evening Francois called in ( the other active farmer when he's not drinking ) for a beer and a moan about them so Paulien told him he was a wimp and should call the police and that she would . However she forgot of course the next day the police were round as some else called them so everyone thinks its Paulien the young dissidents were rounded up and confined to a secure field where they have stayed put since. By chance we met Raymonds wife at the dump (recycling centre ) a few days later where Paulien told her it wasn't her that called the police but only because she forgot . The woman is a bit weird haven't seen her for about 5 years so she insisted on giving us 10 caulis . Its the only veg that should be reclassified as animal fodder fortunately we managed to give them away at the bar

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