Why it's good living in France

Discussion in 'Western Europe' started by LafayetteBis, Feb 27, 2021.

  1. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    More recent photo:
    [​IMG]

    Still an attractie woman ...
     
  2. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Yes, Emmanuelle Béart is aging well. She is 57 years old, now. But my point in posting her picture when she was younger, was just to give an example of a very French look for a female, given that we were talking about how pretty French women are.
    Isabelle Adjani is another example, with the mixed race beauty I was talking about. Her father was a Berber from Algeria, and her mother was German.
    [​IMG]

    Another representative is Audrey Tautou. She is not as stunning as Isabelle and Emmanuelle, she is more on the "cute" side but I find her very attractive too (a body to die for, too; some of her movies show a lot of skin). No mixed race, at least not recently; both her parents are French.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2021
  3. gnoib

    gnoib Well-Known Member

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    More drooling, get the face pampers out.
     
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  4. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    To be honest, France now looks less desirable since all the jungle camps,
    and Paris looking like Skid Row today.

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    It wasn't always this way and there was a time (not so long ago/a few years ago maybe) when Paris was an attractive place to visit; not so much anymore.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2021
  5. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    It's not just Paris or France; there are places in the US (and maybe the US in general) that used to be more desirable but with the changing times, I fear that that's now all in the past (like with Paris).

    People still might want to go to places expecting them to be how they used to be, but will be disappointed as they've left it too late and now the places have changed.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2021
  6. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Selective photography. Paris remains gorgeous.
     
  7. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I hope so, because IDK, scenes like that make me not want to go to Paris/feel sad that I never seen it before it looked like that.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2021
  8. VotreAltesse

    VotreAltesse Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    (I'm french) I went on a regular basis in Paris before the corona times, I didn't fell well because of the crowd, and the fact there is too many people trying to talk to you. Paris it's very beautifull and extremely dirty at the same time.
     
  9. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It's always been a bit dirty. I lived there for 5 years. It is gorgeous, though. I don't mind it being a little dirty like all large cities, but it is hard to compete, as far as large cities go, for its striking beauty. I think Rome is a competitor, although with very different looks. Berlin is much dirtier and definitely not as pretty. London is OK but not exactly super pretty either. Madrid, same as London (maybe a bit prettier than London). Milan, not pretty, Naples is a mess and very dirty. Lisbon is nice but not that big. Barcelona I guess is a bit like Lisbon in this department; both have their charms but can't compare to Paris and Rome. I'm not crazy about the Swiss cities either, like Genève and Zurich; they are cute but they can't compete with Paris and Rome. OK, Vienna is pretty. That one holds its own against the competition. So of the large capital cities and regional capitals in Western Europe, I think Paris is the prettiest, closely followed by Rome and Vienna. I'd say Venice and Florence come next. Bruges is very pretty but small. The Dutch cities are nothing special. Athens is dirty. Now if we look at more Eastern cities, Prague is definitely a gem, and so is Budapest. Bratislava, meh. Istanbul is a special case. It is chaotic and messy but has its charm.
     
  10. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I really like London because it's home and with that comes; St. John's Wood, which is home to Abbey Road Studios; Hyde Park
    [​IMG]
    which is off Mayfair at the other end of Oxford Street to Soho.

    I have 3 guitars I bought on Denmark Street; My 1996 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul, my 2005 Gibson VOS R7 Les Paul and my 2000 Fender USA Deluxe Stratocaster.

    I'm an expert in buying guitars and who has the best guitars where 'so called Guitar hot spots' and, Madrid is another one in Europe (for high end Gibson and high end Fender), but since I'm from one (my native London), it's all good; I saw some fancy ornate guitars in Amsterdam, but they were all European acoustic guitars. I tried to go guitar shopping in the US; but foudn out no one had any high end guitars like that in Oregon (Eugene and Portland) as well as Wisconsin (Waukusha and Milwaukee) so I didn't go guitar shopping in America as I found my Gibson I wanted to buy in America but couldn't find any where I wanted to guitar shop in America, in my native Denmark Street (which is just so convenient for me as I got to try ones I had my eye on before spotting the one I wanted); and I grew up with and went to Denmark Street after school so took it for granted, until I found my 2005 Gibson VOS R7 in London that is in and among other high end/cool guitars.
    Me and my friend last year got stuck in Amsterdam after a missed flight (or 2)... so by the end of it, we were pretty used to Amsterdam after never making our London flights, but I remember telling my friend
    'Amsterdam's good and all, but we've got a flight to catch to London tomorrow, so that night we just went to sleep in the middle of Amsterdam's tourist hot spot where our friendly hotel was who didn't mind keeping us as long as we kept paying... In the middle of town out there, I can remember feeling lucky because I was getting excited about flying to London; I saw other people with Eastern European Accents or Middle Eastern and maybe because of a pandemic or whatever, felt like we were the only 2 Brits there, so with windows open, we could hear other rooms opposite, they could no doubt her us; I found a video on YouTube to get me and friend off of Amsterdam back into London.

    It was this random find for me and my friend I played to get us focused on getting home because we have lives in London and as nice as Amsterdam is; we really had to prepare ourselves for the return to the UK.
    So I guess other guests could tell we were Brits with her drinking (lol) (Brits love to get drunk and it's a stigma and well, the person who cleaned up our room had a mountain of wine bottles and beer cans to get through) (I helped her drink, she helped me smoke, it was our room).
    We party'd hardy though, she drank like a fish, I smoked like a chimney (Amsterdam baby) and the hotel didn't care; but we kept missing flights (like 2), that I was telling friends back in the UK I was coming home, then telling them I was in 'Dam still showing them my breakfast joints joking there are worse places to be stuck at; so enjoyed the extra time there last year.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2021
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  11. The Scotsman

    The Scotsman Well-Known Member

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    ...I was really pissed off having to leave it....HEK looked after us really well....
     
  12. Pixie

    Pixie Well-Known Member

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    I have lived in SW France now for just about 20 years, in two tranches...9 year, then ran out of money, than eleven years post retirement. Always between Toulouse and Bayonne.
    I have been interested in France since I was in high school when I got to know it a bit by studying the language. I had a great Francophone for a teacher.
    I used to spend long weekends in Paris when you could book a cheap break from the UK. I got to know the tourist hangouts but never tired of the museums and little delis where I used to buy lunch and sit on the banks of the Seine and eat fantastic food, unheard of then in the UK.
    I did my job for nearly 40 years in the UK but spent more and more time exploring France over longer holidays. Course by then the borders were totally open.
    Eventually I got to the most southwest corner and marked it out as supremely beautiful, mixed culture (a heavy influence from Spain), the Basque culture , the quiet and slower way of life...more stable, less instability.
    Over time I have appreciated that sense of nothing much changing that isn't needed. I could walk past groups of teens at night and not feel threatened. Shops are different in every town and supermarkets sold a small choice of what you need.
    Markets were selling veg just dug that morning.
    France is an odd mix of liberal and conservative. Its education system is formal, rigid and teacher led. But its political centering of tax and spend is more left wing. For example if I want to raise money for a charity I am not allowed to be sponsored but I give what I want and the govt reimburses me 60% of it.
    But the thing I love abut it is laicite...the fourth pillar of French identity, where faith and religion have no part in the equal recognition of a citoyen. Faith and state are totally separate to the point where a marriage is not legally done in a place of faith...it has to be in a civil setting to be legal. Any faith based ceremony is of course allowed but is not the legal part.
    This idea of laicite means that no person can use faith as an excuse to break the law, no law is passed that favours one faith over another. We are all truly equal in public and faith plays no part in our legal life.
    What you do at home of course is up to you.
    The whole idea to me is the culmination of the French idea of the Enlightenment and the expression of the second identity of France, egalité. We are all truly equal in law.
    And the French are very sensitive about it.
    I became a citizen in October 2019 and it took me just over three years to be approved. I am proud to be part of its culture, its beauty, its open spaces, its courage to protest and demand a voice in govt instead of accepting whatever the govt lays on you. We have a voice between elections.
    It isn't perfect...nothing is. The racism in cities is pretty nasty but I never liked cities so I let the city residents sort it out.
    If you ever want glorious mountains, beautiful rolling green hills, clean rivers, fascinating fusion of food, the ocean and the mountains in one eyeful, the calm and steady rhythm of life, come and explore the SW corner. I will be there somewhere...I am never leaving it.
     
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  13. CenterField

    CenterField Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Wow, nice, poetic post! Thanks.
     
  14. Ronald Hillman

    Ronald Hillman Banned

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    Some of the best weeks of my life spent on my motorbike in France, cannot wait for corvid to end and get over for a tour. Hot chocolate in the little cafes keep you going on a cold day on the bike! Hoping to get over Sept or Oct.
     
  15. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    In terms of only pure economics, France definitely has somewhat of a lower standard of living than the UK.

    Now, there are many intangibles, of course, that I think balance out the issue. But you don't see any English moving to France for purely economic reasons.

    One of the indicators of this is all those migrants who, after making the long trek to France, don't stop there but go all the way north across the country and try to cross into the UK.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2021
  16. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    You might want to read the account of this man:
    Man describes long wait time for emergency surgery in France
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2021
  17. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Last edited: Mar 6, 2021
  18. Montegriffo

    Montegriffo Well-Known Member

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    Yes you do.
    You can sell your little semi-detached in Surrey and buy a Chateau with cash to spare in France.
    France was always cheap, so long as you avoid the Mediterranean coast, but unlike the UK the French housing market never recovered after the credit crunch crash.
    My little barn conversion in Aquitaine set in an acre of land dropped from 100k to about 20k.

    The thing I like the most about France is the medieval architecture.
    Castles in particular but churches, cathedrals and complete little hamlets from that era are everywhere.
    Last time I was out there I went on a little castle tour and was spoilt for choice. There are more castles than even Wales has to offer and many of them are still lived in unlike the ruins you find in this country.
    This little beauty at Bourg Archambault is on the way to the big supermarket in Montmorrion where I go to shop.
    [​IMG]
     
  19. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    One man's wait means nothing. Most surgery in France is more than adequate in normal times. We are not in "normal times" nowadays.

    In fact, times are so abnormal my doctor closed shop. He was inundated with work he could not handle.

    The EU ****ed it up, not any individual country. Brussels was negotiating between the countries and the purveyors of the medication. It is just beginning to arrive in suitable quantities.

    The AstroZeneca anti-Covid medication IS being dispensed in France. You have to call a phone-number and give your National Healthcare Coordinates. It all depends upon one's age. The older you are, the higher up the ladder you get. and the sooner France IS medicating the elderly who are most at risk.

    For France, that is typical. Whatever the matter/danger, unless immediate and of a "normal nature" (police, firemen) it responds in time through the local doctor - and they are all members of the National Healthcare Service.

    But Covid changed all that. France has set-up local-centers to treat Covid to the general public where the anti-covid shots are made. The elderly still get preference ...
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2021
  20. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    don't mean to get off-topic, but how many more million migrants do you think the nation could take before you start seeing signs of the system being overwhelmed, and buckling at the seams?

    You do realise that hospitals and surgeries are not free, and you cannot just keep bringing more people to the hospital, and not increase spending, without that changing something. This is really a health economics issue.

    Bring in forty thousand doctors from India to try to control rising costs?
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2021
  21. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    [QUOTE="CenterField, post: 1072475547, member: 87868"...not to forget all the fabulous food and wine and the pretty and sexy women.[/QUOTE]

    I managed to marry on of the sexy-women. They are an amazingly attractive race of female beauty.

    But, such a perception is, still, a personal attribute. I've seen plenty of Yanks who would never say what I just said in front of their non-French wives.

    The Yank contingent in France is much lower than it once was. There are fewer and fewer of us still hanging around - and those who came to work have for the most part all returned. Wyzat?

    Because they were paid special-rates to accommodate their families and became far too expensive for the output they were contributing ...
     
  22. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    You mean France became less racist and realized Africans could do all the low level jobs for cheaper, resulting in French moving up with higher level jobs, and now that doesn't really leave much room for American foreigners.
    France does have a little bit of a tight job market these days (especially if you go much far out from Paris).

    Sorry, I don't mean to be a downer but someone's got to call that out.

    I will say Americans are harder working than French. And migrants are hard working too (if they are working), but that pretty much all changes once you get to the second generation of them.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2021
  23. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Frankly, I can agree with you. I think that the only thing that Trump did right was to put up the southwestern wall with Mexico - that he could not finish. Too much is too much, and the US is not responsible for the anarchic manner in which the Central-american states to the south of Uncle Sam are incompetent politically. (Especially that arse-hole Bolsanaro further down in Brazil.)

    Biden should not go too far out of his way to "settle this particular problem" left him by Donald-Dork. There is enough gone wrong, that needs fixing, from the Trump 4-year cataclysm.

    The very last thing he did in office - the very last thing at the last hour - was for him and his wife to get another anti-Covid shot ... !
     
  24. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    :laughing:

    Yeah, sorry to make you go off topic. I think you are enjoying your life in the political climate of France.

    Your current president there:
    https://sputniknews.com/amp/viral/201811291070227926-facebook-censors-macron-pic-shirtless-thugs/
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2021
  25. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    On the topic of French women, there seems to be a difference between North and South.

    Of course, Paris is mixed.
     

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