12th June 2016

A week of clashes.  Yesterday England v Russia, both on and off the pitch, in Marseilles. Ongoing French strikes against proposed modernisation of a French employment law that, for decades, has allowed some to retire at 50, with job security for life with generous pensions. And in the UK, referendum brinkmanship and recent strikes continue to focus on bringing more money to the NHS.  The link here is 'modernisation'.  People mistrust it, clinging to the past they know. A few days ago we experienced yet again the French health system at its best. It's so obvious if only the NHS were brave enough: 1.  issue a photo id health card to all, based on entitlement; 2. a 70:30 payment system, the 30% topped up by government for the low paid/chronically sick; 3. card-readers in all G.P./clinics/hospitals/pharmacies which automatically read and process individuals' health cards and patient history; 4. after treatment, the patient automatically issued with an unsealed consultant report plus X-rays where applicable to be directed to the GP. No more clashes. Be brave France and the UK: embrace change and bring employment and health into the 21st century.

29th May 2016

Suppose everyone has weeks like this.  The French strikes didn't help. Every time we needed to go out, would the petrol stations on our journey have any fuel at all?  And over on the referendum front, Harry Shindler - a WW2 British veteran - suffered another setback when his top-flight lawyers lost the final battle with the UK's Supreme Court of Appeal to allow British expats away for 15+ years to vote.  But no, it was none of these things. Him indoors slipped and fell in heavy rain, breaking his knee and spraining his ankle so severely the whole leg was hot, red and swollen. After several trips to the Urgences in Albi, he now has a plaster cast and must learn to use crutches for several weeks. Didn't help that, on return from hospital, one of our 'wonderful' neighbours left a phone message that our dogs, in the cool cellar, had been barking!  Good thing the annual visit by son Jon has helped to keep me sane. Amazing help. And me? I've learned the French for crutches (cannes anglaises!) and that the nurse wasn't injecting Him indoors against stones (cailloux) but against blood clots/phlebitis (caillots)!  You see how dangerous it is living with another language? Oh well, next week things can only get better.......

22nd May 2016

What is it with the French for strikes?  Takes me right back to the '70s in the UK. This last week there've been scenes of anarchists, incandescent with stoked-up rage, attacking and burning a police car.  And why? Seven French unions are opposed to the elected government's reforms to work laws. Whatever you might think about workers' rights to strike, it's never seemed fair to me that those who work for a large organisation with strong unions have a greater chance to protest against comparatively trivial things than those who work for themselves or for small, private firms. There seems no legislation to curb megalomaniac union leaders who look only for power and glory for themselves. So, as per usual, we the general public will suffer French national strikes this Thursday and 14 June.  Also this week, there was that terrible, tragic plane crash where passengers who boarded at CDG airport in Paris were probably blown to pieces mid-air, whilst the plane was sent spinning down into a watery grave. Now that's what normal, rational people should be protesting about. It's called getting a perspective on life. The French need to grow up.

2nd October 2011

Aux barricades!  Yes, the French are going on strike yet again. Tuesday 11th, the five main unions are calling for coordinated action against the country's austerity plans. 
It's all deja vu. I'm thinking back to the '70s when the unions brought the whole country to a standstill.  Yes, it was a different country, yes it was a different union leader, but the motive and rationale were just the same:  we don't like the country's leader - far too arrogant, the party's not to our taste and I'd like some of that power and glory for myself.  And, while all this prancing about and celebrity-chasing was going on, the ordinary man in the street was suffering.  No services, no transport, no vital utilities.
You can be forgiven for thinking all this is 'crying wolf'.  France is hardly in Greece's position, yet. But what if things were really bad (like in 1930s Germany), would anyone listen to the unions then?  This is a democracy:  if you don't like the government's policies, simply vote them out. At a time when the economy is at such a critical stage and we're all worried about the euro, it's preposterous of the unions and the strikers themselves to cost the country even more money. Him indoors says any striking aircrews should stage a walkout at 30000 feet....

24th October 2010

Chaos theory reigns supreme. Take England. Please! We had arranged an early-morning hotel wake-up call for the Tuesday morning so that we could pick up our daughter at Heathrow. So, we were now 3 in the hotel room, she on crutches following breaking her foot. After a tiring day dealing with funeral agents, we were in a deep sleep when, you guessed it, the phone jangled at 04.30! 'Your early morning call, madame'. No! That was yesterday. 'It's on our system, madam'. After sorting that out, the following night loud bells again woke us. I blinked at the clock: 02.00h. Unbelievably, a fire alarm. Struggled out into the cold. The fact I had forgotten to pack my nightdress in the rush to leave home did not help! No fire wardens, no-one at all to help, nor to tell us when it was safe to go back in. Finally got back to sleep, when loud bells again woke us at 06.00h. On enquiry at reception, the under-manager had arrived for duty, heard about the fire alarm and was testing the system! I could almost hear Sybil shouting 'Basil, Basil...!' and Manuel 'Mr. Fawlty, eet iz only a drill'. Later, after the funeral, our sorry group returned to the hotel, feeling despondent, only to be met by a riotous wedding party and loud, jarring drumbeats all night.
After all that, the French strikes are almost a relief....

12th September 2010

So, French workers are 'revolting' again! On 7 Sep as many as 200,000 took to the streets in Paris, 110,000 in Toulouse. And what's it all about this time? Sarkozy has suggested moving the retirement age from 60 to 62 in 2018. This doesn't even include workers from the French utility companies like my neighbour, who was able to retire at 50 with a handsome pension.
Remember England in the 1970s? Whenever there's unrest, there's a union representative. This time it's not Arthur Scargill but a Frenchman called Francois Chereque. He's so overjoyed he's called another day of action on 23 Sep. In response, the Employment Minister Eric Woerth has introduced some concessions for those whose jobs have left them unable to raise their arms above elbow level. Cue thousands of doctors' notes to that effect.
I'm very glad of my English state pension, earned after working all my adult life, but it's nothing like the amount the French receive and I didn't get it at 50 either. What's up with the French? Don't they realise we are all living longer than when pensions were first introduced?
Oh well, cue 23 Sep: barricade the doors. The French are indeed revolting again.