JOURNAL FROM FRANCE

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Monday, May 19, 2008

Recycling

Cher Lecteur, Bonjour, We are getting quite big on recycling here in France, but not as much as Germany of course, where they have separate bins for everything, everywhere. I heard yesterday that in Korea, they get their bank account credited a few cents each time they put a bit of I don't know what... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

We have strikes in France all the time

Cher Lecteur, Bonjour, There is almost a calendar of strikes, especially in May (I don't know why May) and September which is " la rentrée " in France, when schools go back, and parliamentarians come back to Paris from holiday and things get going again. And the strikes get worse and worse till... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Oops, my computer published my piece before I had finished, so the TGV

Computers have a mind of their own, and mine just decided I had been writing long enough and published me when I wasn't ready. So this follows on from that. I was saying, thank the Lord for the TGV, the Train Grande Vitesse or High Speed Train. I live right at the very edge of France, nearest... Sign in to see full entry.

An update on medicine in France, and a thank you for the TGV

I watched a debate on French television (Tele 5, C'est-a-dire, to be precise for those who might want to watch it on the web) about the way hospitals and private clinics are going. And I must say that after my elogious account a couple of days ago, I have to report that things are not going to stay... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Beach glass and cockles

Bonjour, cher Lecteur, I wanted to go to the beach with Oslo, my ancient labrador, this morning, but by the time I was actually ready to go, it had started raining, so I shall have to wait for this evening's low tide and see what the weather is doing then instead. We couldn't go to the beach last... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Bonjour, cher Lecteur, We are blessed in France with a wonderful medical system. Of course, people complain about it, and the social security is in deficit and we keep having sneaky extra taxes to help fill the gap. But the most important thing really is that when you are ill, there is always... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, May 12, 2008

High days and holidays

Bonjour, cher Lecteur, The French have a reputation, in Europe anyway, for not working too strenuously, but although it is true that the working week has for last last few years been reduced to 35 hours, and annual holidays amount to 5 weeks before counting national holidays, I think that the... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

The Postal System in France

Bonjour, cher Lecteur (well I have to put a bit of French into my writing, that is the language I hear and speak all day long...) After reading Greenfields' piece on Indian postboxes in Letter from India, I just had to follow on by describing the system in France, which isn't half as good as in... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

A Trip from Brittany to the Loire Valley

Good Morning, dear Reader, The sun is finally shining again in Brittany and it's almost as hot as it was in the Loire Valley earlier in the week. I took the car on Monday and, having left Oslo, my labrador in care, and put food out on the terrace for the cat, drove the 550 or so kilometres from... Sign in to see full entry.

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