At Home in Brittany

Thanks for All the Comments

A big thank you to all those who continue to comment on our posts about life in Brittany. When we started the blog two years ago, we had no idea our ramblings would attract so much interest and have been amazed at the number of people that continue to visit the site.

We apologise if we have not responded to every comment we receive but unless we are asked a specific question we are happy to publish the comments on our blog and share your views and opinions. We will continue to try and give an honest view of life in France from the perspective of an English resident and hope that you will continue to find the observations interesting.

Best Wishes, Tony and Anne.

Getting The Car Repaired in France

Car ownership in France can be a pleasant experience, with well maintained roads and about half the traffic you would find on an English road. If you decide to live in France permanently then you will inevitably think very carefully about the choice of car which may well be determined by your house location,i.e. rural or town.

It is fair to say that a lot of ex-pats bring their English cars with them, whether this is due to undying love or the insecurity fears of their new life in France and the possibility of a return to the homeland. Whatever the choice of car at some stage you will need to find a garage to either maintain or carry out essential repairs, unless of course you are one of those few people who have the skills and knowledge to undertake you own reparations.

If you purchased a new car in France then you will be secure in the knowledge that the agent will  undertake the maintenance and repair work. This will usually include the loan of a small car whilst the work is carried out. For those who choose to buy from a second hand car sales agent, privately or have brought their own UK car over then the situation is somewhat different.

Unfortunately we fall into the second group who made the mistake of bringing their own car over to France some 8 years ago. It was a new car that my wife had vowed she would not be parted from regardless of the bureaucracy involved in transferring the registration and the cost. So we have ended up with a Saab in Brittany, which has served us well despite being totally unsuitable for  rural roads and a magnet for manure.

It is inevitable that eventually mechanical problems will occur and you are faced with the decision as to which mechanical surgeon you can trust to replace the diseased part. It would have been easy to take the car direct to an agent for the particular make, in this case Saab, but that was St Brieuc or Rennes, some 2 hrs from our location. Consultations with our French friends enabled a short list of potential garages to be identified based on positive feedback.

So it was that we arrived a the first garage on the list to obtain a diagnosis and hopefully remedial repairs. In hindsight a quick appraisal of the amount of cars triple parked in the surrounding grounds awaiting attention should have set off  alarm bells, but regrettably the thought of an imminent repair temporarily blinded me. I opened the Saab bonnet to allow Guy access to the engine. He raised his eyebrows gave a short exhalation of air and said "Ahgh! très,très compliqué"

This was clearly the stage at which I should have got back in the car and left, however in my wife's words, "He is such a nice man"

So it was that I entrusted the car to Guy for the first time and set forth a train of long periods of being without a car in a rural area. It is apparent that having diagnosed the problem the garagiste, faced with a non French car has to set off on a voyage of discovery to obtain the replacement parts which in our case often come from Paris, or is it Sweden! On more than one occasion I have stepped in  to obtain the part from the UK in 2 days as opposed to the statutory 2 weeks from a French supplier.

If you are mad enough to entrust you car to a local garage then you will find that the loan of a courtesy car is rare and has to be balanced against the low cost of the repair. I am fortunate that one of my friends has a cheap second car which he uses on the farm and insists that I use it when the car is in for repair. It is a great little vehicle that seems to run on thin air and has things living in it! at least I think that is what accounts for the smell.

I think if there is a moral to this story it is to make sure you find a good garage you can rely on to maintain and repair you car and if you intend to stay in France buy a French Car or a good Bicycle

Internet Shopping in France

Despite having a fairly robust and widespread access to the Internet in France the marketing possibilities have not been fully grasped by the commercial world. To a casual observer this would appear strange as on the face of it France has a large rural populace who you would imagine would benefit from access to goods without having to leave their home. However these have historically been the very same people who have been very self sufficient and in many cases only require occasional trips to the shops to replenish those staple items which they are unable to produce.

However over the past ten years the population of the rural areas and the small towns have seen changes with more young people taking advantage of the cheaper housing and of course more Europeans choosing to retire to the French countryside. These changes coupled with the increased demand for the variety and competitive prices offered by Internet sales has encouraged more and more French companies to utilise the net platform.

For those who are new to France or thinking of moving here I therefore give a brief summary of the sort of Internet Shopping which it is possible to access in France.

Clothes

The French consumer has for some years used catalogue shopping as a main source of clothes for the family. Up until the last 5 years the catalogues were mainly sourced from newspaper shops or by post, however the majority of the catalogue companies now provide sales access via the web. It is interesting to note that to reduce costs these companies use reception centres in local shops where the customer retrieves the order, as opposed to home deliveries.

The Bureaucratic Nightmare that is France

On arrival in France it is not long before you become consumed in the bureaucracy that is embedded in the fabric of life, in a society that demands every transaction and communication is recorded in paper format. Despite having a high level of Internet access and computer literacy the French authorities require citizens to retain a paper copy of every household and personnel transaction they undertake. 

Every office, private, local administrative, regional or central government, maintain manual records in the old manila files, sometimes from floor to ceiling. Visit any office to commence a transaction and immediately, somewhere in the background a small but perfectly formed administrative clerk will start a paper file.

Yes but surely they use computers, you ask? Oh yes they have computers and they will record your details on the PC and will use it to complete any associated documentation. Once entered on the system the very same document will be printed out, one copy for your paper file at home and one for their paper file in the office. A good example is a visit to the insurance brokers where you ask for an amendment of your policy. The agent first proceeds to the racks of paper files and pulls out your file with name emblazoned on the spine. Having checked the contents the agent starts to obtain a quote on the computer for the amended insurance required. Having mutually agreed the policy amendment the agent then prints out the policy in duplicate, both copies are signed and you go away to file your copy at home and another tree is added to our file in the office.

I asked the agent why do you maintain paper files when you have the same documents on the PC and presumably backed up onto a server? " Yes we do have them on computer but the Government legislation requires us to maintain paper copies regardless "

It is very strange that this is the same government which is introducing a Carbon Tax and yet every day in France tons of paper is being used to duplicate the processes recorded on computer networks.

The other day I visited the bank to ask the manager if I could stop the paper statements being sent to my home as I accessed the account on PC regularly and found the statements surplus to requirements. Shock and Horror! But you must retain the paper statements they may be required by the 'Tax de Impot' (Inland Revenue). Yes but I can print some off when they are needed. "NO,NO, you must retain the hard-copy in the special file we gave you".

Yes reader, this is the 21st century but clearly someone has forgotten to tell the French Bureaucrats that computers can be very reliable especially when information is backed up!

Those expats who have lived in France for a few years will no doubt have resigned themselves to the paper chase and have draws full of photocopies of every personal document they have ever owned. Why you may ask? well every time you have to renew an official French document or complete an annual registration you will be asked for hard copîes of everything that you gave them the previous year. Perhaps their filing system doesn,t work? or they imagine that we are all going to change our names each year, move house, get married again or have a sex change.

Sorry, can you tell that the bureaucracy's is starting to annoy me!

In truth I think that France is suffering from the Us and Them politics of central government  versus the local regions with no one having the will or the bravery to take this issue on board. An enormous number of people are employed in national, local and regional government and if you were to attempt to stop the bureaucracy jobs would inevitably be at risk. One might say the savings from a review of  administration can only be good for the economics of the country. In reality any attempt to streamline the administration, especially in this recession, would be met with an outcry from the French unions.

So I am going to have to keep repeating, 'ça c'est la vie' and taking another glass of wine until eventually I no longer care how many trees have been felled on my behalf.

America to Brittany - The Challenges

We have recently been asked about some of the challenges which may face a family who are considering moving from America to Brittany. So Katrina and family this ones for you!We can obviously give a broad outline of some of the issues a family may have to face but I would recommend continuing your research in depth before making any decisions.

 

Firstly it is important to emphasise that France has not escaped the recession despite the lack of news coverage worldwide. Many companies have had to close resulting in large increases in unemployment and industrial unrest which takes on a whole new meaning in France. Recently a spate of companies closing due to the recession have been held to ransom by occupations and even threats of bombing in demand of increased payouts.

 

The English Tourist in Brittany

A lot has been written about the English tourist and their unusual traits which come to the fore when they are on holiday. As someone who provides holiday accommodation in Brittany it never ceases to amaze me how we the ‘ Brits’ are transformed from normal logical human beings into strange aliens that have suddenly found themselves on a mysterious planet. Until the last few years France was a holiday destination of the hardened Francophile who came for the culture, history and of course the food and wine. More recently we have seen an increase in tourists who would normally have gone to one of the many package holiday destinations but due to the continual travel agency failures and airline price increases have decided to try the French experience.

 

Upon arrival in this strange land the first thing is unload all the English food we brought with us, after all we don,t want to risk upset stomachs trying all that strange French food. Evidently it is necessary to bring lots of toilet rolls to France; I presume the French toilet paper is below par? (In fact English toilet paper is excellent for blocking the septic tank)

 

“Can you tell me where the nearest takeaway is as we did not have time to get something on the way” Well actually the French are not really into takeaways so the only one we know is a McDonald’s some distance away. There is a really good Crêperie in the village why not try that. “But that’s just pancakes isn’t it?” No, they have a varied menu at most crêperies but I am afraid they do not do takeaway.

 

Protesting – French Style

Here in Brittany emotions run high when an action carried out by one is regarded by another as unjust; and never more so than when it affects the agricultural community. The recent contention is the disparity of profit between the milk producers compared to those gained by retail outlets; predominantly supermarkets.

“Retailers are making big margins on basic foods such as milk, fruit and meat at a time when prices paid to producers are declining”, stated France's main farm union, the French National Federation of Farmers' Unions (FNSEA).

Farm minister Michel Barnier said this week a new committee charged with monitoring margins along the food chain is ready to publish its first findings -- relating to pork prices -- but the FNSEA says progress has been too slow.

 

“Les Paysans” the country people, are not reticent in making their views heard and the extent of their anger has been evident during the weekend. Plumes of black smoke ascended into the blue June sky emanating from strategically placed bonfires in supermarket car parks. Farmers blocked access to around 40 out of some 60 distribution centres that supply French supermarkets as part of a 48-hour protest. Traffic came to a halt at every roundabout, their route firmly barred by tractors, trailers trucks and other agricultural heavy duty machinery.

 

In general the protests are well organised and take the form of a well planned march culminating in the occasional short term road blockage where leaflets describing the groups grievances are handed out to the delayed traffic. However in recent years the protests in Brittany have to a large part involved the farming union which historically have a very strong base in Brittany. In the years we have lived here we have witnessed some astonishing protests by the farmers us ing any means they have to attract the government’s attention. This is the first of a round of demonstrations (manifestations) that take place in France every year, usually during the summer months to maximise the disruption and therefore initiate responsive action by the Government.

 

A Snip in Time

Here I go again; another appointment with a hairdresser, another attempt to keep an hair of Englishness about my style. (Pardon the pun). I must have chalked up at least twelve since it became a mission several years ago to establish myself with an eminent “coiffeur” ou “coiffeuse”; I’m not fussy. 

 

Or am I? Most things in Brittany I can usually accept easily with regards to them being French or Breton but, hairdressers evoke in me a sense of paranoia.  Is it just me; who invariably is subject to a cut and style that by no stretch of the imagination resembles the one chosen from among the pictures ‘ma coiffeuse’ proffered? Am I the  only one after giving precise instructions on the subtle tones of a colour to be applied in order to maintain a “natural look”; finds herself looking at a reflection in a mirror that suggests she may have to lie low for a few weeks?

 

As I tentatively walk towards my latest choice of hairdressers; charmingly called “Coiff Zen”, I cast my mind back to my first encounter with French hairdressers. Shortly after we had arrived in Brittany, very conveniently I found a little salon had opened up in a village nearby; and being new to the ways of French style I considered one hairdresser in an unsophisticated establishment would be a simpler right of passage to contend with than those found in the larger towns.

 

‘Passing Through’ the Toilets of Bretagne

Anyone who has visited France will know that visiting a public or commercial convenience can be a challenging experience which should not be attempted by the faint hearted. Right from the start you have to accept that there is a cultural difference which I believe stems from the (le droit de l’homme)  the   ‘The Rights of Man’ which in some way explains the desire for French men to relieve themselves wherever and whenever they feel the need. This display of manhood can be seen in the singular but more often than not it is exercised as a group activity, clearly part of a bonding process!

 

This historical disregard for privacy during ‘toilette’ activity goes some way towards the explanation for the lack of separation in the majority of public toilets, between women and men’s facilities. It can be quite a shock for the English tourist to discover that not only are the facilities shared, but women have to pass the men’s urinal to reach the toilet cubicles. On many occasions I have had to check the absence of men before my wife will enter and then whistle a patriotic theme if one arrives whilst she is in residence; I find the ‘La Marseillaise’ is most appropriate.

French Health Care System – Can it Survive the Excess and Poor Administration?

As a paid up member of the French Health System for the past seven years I cannot help but be impressed by the level and professionalism of the front line service. However as a user, one cannot fail to observe the serious flaws in the way that the system is being administered which will inevitably lead to increased overall costs and a reduction in the quality and availability of the service in the long term.

 

Much has been written about the membership of the French Health System by other EU citizens and the eventual compromise reached in 2007/8 described in some detail on the British Embassy and French Government Health web site. Therefore in this post I wish only to pass observations on my concerns for the future of the system surrounding the administration from the viewpoint of a user.