So what in a nutshell is it like in the real France ? What is the reality of living there?
Well in fairness France is a pretty place and the villages and towns are more than nice to look at and be in. The countryside is diverse and also very attractive. The shops are individual and you will not find the basic set of the same names that appear in other countries including the UK where every town looks exactly the same as the next one. The road and transport links are good. Good rail and air and ferries along with buses and of course the subways. A lot of culture and a slower pace of life. For those that love wine and wine culture and talking about food and lazing around it is brilliant. It has a reasonably fair legal system and the people are quite law abiding. The French are, on the surface, polite and will always be willing to shake hands and kiss each other. French children are polite and generally well behaved. The country runs a democratic system which works but is very over governed and over staffed. Simple matters are duplicated and huge amounts of time and money is lost to worthless bureaucratic waste. Health cover is pricey and health professionals like to run a lot of tests and treatments once they know you carry Health Insurance. A quieter pace of life and a good place to retire to and feel safe but be aware and do not get lulled into a false sense of security. Try and keep your options open for a swift exit from France if the need arises. Many stay for a few years and then they get out.
If you love wildlife then you will have to accept the old fashioned French habit of hunting. The French slaughter over 30 million wild animals every year for fun. Millions of birds, deer, boar, rabbits, foxes and anything that moves - all shot dead by the French for laughs. They also shoot each other by accident and a good many innocent members of the public are shot dead or injured every year as well. The figures are available online and it makes worrying reading when you discover that clipping the roses or going for a drive on a Sunday morning can result in being shot by a hunter. To make matters worse the French often hunt after the infamous ‘lunch’ which means in many cases that the hunting group are under the influence of considerable volumes of alcohol and therefore not perhaps the best people to be waving an array of firearms about. The French government are so afraid of things like the gun lobby that they let them carry on rather than face them. The French therefore continue to slaughter wild animals for fun and kill and seriously injure a lot of bystanders every month. Shooting and hunting does have a place but to allow people to wander anywhere in the countryside (even on private land) letting off firearms whilst drunk is too stupid for words.
You may not be too impressed with wine, food or hospitality either so if you are a wine and dine buff that enjoys an evening of fun in a busy restaurant with good choices and an international card and wine list then forget it. French food and French wine is all you will find which is nice enough but can become tedious. A good French restaurant can be very good but a decent meal is often very expensive. Lunch times provide the dish of the day which is the least expensive option and good value compared to evening meals. These lunchtime bistro’s etc are everywhere and can be fun. Order the plate of the day which can be anything from 2 to 5 courses for a set fee sometimes including drinks as well. Make sure they do not try to charge you for separate courses. It is a trick staff often try to pull. You sit down for the set price meal and at the till the price escalates. Stand firm and stick to your principles. The French always back down from a fight.
Enjoy shopping?
Wrong country to be in for that. Closed more than open and staff unhelpful and a fight on you hands if goods prove faulty. Shoddy goods and workmanship and cheapies from China abound. Attitude in general is go somewhere else if you don’t like it. Stick to the big outlets and avoid small shops that do not respect refunds for faulty goods.
Being English !
The French smile a lot and are very polite but this masks a deep seated dislike for the English. Passive aggressive is the term that best sums them up generally. The smiling and apparently helpful lady at the tax office will ‘forget’ to notify you that you are eligible for a tax rebate. The seemingly friendly assistant at the Mayors Office will make an ‘error’ in billing you for something you did not have to pay for. The happy man who shakes you hand at the CPAM medical centre will ‘accidentally’ fail to submit your papers to enable a refund for your medical expenses and so it goes on week in week out. You will spend a large part of your time unravelling problems caused by an army of these ‘helpful’ smiling people.
French Taxes
To go into detail about French taxes would be a waste of time because they are altered so frequently that any input would be out of date within weeks. A general synopsis is better. Watch out in France for the ‘hidden’ taxes. Of course there are property taxes if you own a house (two separate taxes) and income tax and taxes for the rich and car taxes and VAT and all the usual culprits. The French slip in a raft of other little gems as well and are experts at taxing people and businesses to death. Each of these hidden gems are small in their own right but added together it is what makes France expensive and uncompetitive.
France is a great place to be if you are a poor or very low income individual with no aspirations of improving yourself. The authorities will bend over backwards to assist if you know how to use the systems. The same systems also benefit life’s losers in France. The spongers are well catered for. The middle class and the well off are penalised and chased for money to support these people and the massive system that has been created to cater for them. As for business it is a non starter in France.
Anyone thinking of starting up any sort of enterprise will be crippled by French taxes and excessive labour laws and regulations designed to waste time and create more employment for those in government positions. France relies on jobs ‘created’ for government employees. This means pointless posts invented for employees doing completely pointless tasks.
Take a trip to the doctors as an example. An individual visit’s the doctor and pays the set fee of around 23 euros. The doctor takes the money and the patient makes a claim back for the money via another government agency. That agency in turn takes a portion off the doctor and makes a payment of some to the pharmacist, hospital and ambulance service all of which are operated separately. The money is then refunded to the bank of the patient if they are below a certain income or via a separate insurance company ( paid by either the person or subsidised by the state) or in part if they are in work or above a certain income or pursued via their work health cover. In other words you pay the money and after weeks of moving it around it ends up back where it started. A complete and utter waste of time and energy.
Consumer Rights
In France consumer rights are largely ignored if at all possible. Those who expect 12 months guarantees will be disappointed. Goods that do not perform or break or otherwise fail are difficult to near impossible to return for replacement or refund. Shop staff are often ill informed, untrained and unaware of peoples rights. Even simple and straightforward demands end up in court before shops and businesses will give in.
There are plenty of horror stories and too many to list but it is quite normal to find electrical appliances sold that are shoddy and in damaged or previously opened packaging. Same with many shop goods. If goods are returned or found to be damaged or otherwise not fit for sale it is quite normal for French businesses to try and sell them again to unsuspecting customers. Leather goods are found to be imitation, packages are often missing parts, sizes and dimensions vary, goods are broken or repaired, and generally any description must be taken with a large pinch of salt. Clothes and shoes are also made from cheap materials, low quality and of poor manufacture. Above all never order anything online from French outlets or goods not personally seen and thoroughly inspected.
The French have no regard whatsoever for their customer base and the general attitude is grab what one can and run for the hills. It is unfortunate but true and the attitude is inbred and difficult to shift. If you are sold faulty goods you will find it near to impossible to get a satisfactory conclusion to your dilemma. The only thing you can do is avoid French goods if at all possible. Order online from reliable sources that have good reputations for quality and service such as Britain, Germany and America for example.