….. when you open the fridge and subsequently faint from the cheese smell jumping at you ! Nina and I DO have some different tastes ! 😉
You also know you’re in France when you cannot get any international NEWS on tv. Local ‘summer festivals’ in St. Quoi are more important than the economic crisis here. You know you’re in France when the Wimbledon Finals are ONLY important when there’s a French player in them. And you know you’re in France when there’s more new ridiculous laws and regulations, that subsequently get shrugged away and ignored by all the French, leaving the tourists to worry.
I know I’m in France when I look out the bedroom window and see MOUNTAINS instead of the neighbor’s houses in Holland. I know I’m France when I can get on the motorbike in my summer mesh gear and ride up to a mountain pass at 9000 feet without changing. And I know I’m in France when I pay almost double for my groceries at the supermarket. These people are all making more money than we do, and still they’re having some of the largest mess in their economy in Europe. They too must be getting billions of EU money!
You also know you’re in France when the Tour de France comes along, providing the local authorities with a reason to all of a sudden improve local roads and footpaths beyond recognition! Must be EU money too again…… *grin*
In spite of all this, I love France, I love the mountains and still wished I could live here for more than just a few months each year. But for that to happen I’d need some of that EU money BACK, get the Dutch housing market back on track, our taxes halved and some REAL income for a change….
Until then, we’ll just ‘vacation’ as much as we can, and I work from my little French 6×6 feet office here.
There are worse places in the world.
