And it went like this:
WHEN (signed in LSF)
“the nineteenth” (French mouthing)
Awesome!
I Saw a Sign
Reply
Tag Archives: France
Summer Solstice 2010
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This gallery contains 3 photos.
Monday was the longest day of the year – with 16 hours from sunrise to sunset in Vannes. France celebrates with a night of music going past midnight. Here are some pics of the most action we’ve seen in a … Continue reading
Retirement at 62
From a recent Economist article titled State of denial:
Under a plan unveiled by Eric Woerth, the labour minister, France intends to raise the legal retirement age progressively from 60 to 62 by 2018 … this alone will not meet the state pension-fund shortfall …
And this is what everyone is protesting about?!?
Retirement at 60 + Amazing Healthcare = Bankrupt State
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has recently stirred emotions by discussing delaying the minimum retirement age in France, and/or extending retirement contributions. Here’s a demand by one of France’s many workers unions:
La retraite à 60 ans et à taux plein, sans augmentation, ni allongement de la durée des cotisations.
Translation: Complete retirement at 60 years old, without raising contributions or extending the contribution period.
Seriously, people?
Let’s take the example of Japan, a country with one of the longest life expectancies on the planet, and a good social medicine program. You might think that these are good things, and indeed they are, but combined they produce disastrous results for Japan’s economy: with more and more people living longer lives in retirement, the state bears a bigger and bigger financial burden to care for them.
With French unions short-sightedly demanding a freeze on the retirement age, they are conscripting themselves to the same fate as Japan’s system – radical overhaul or complete bankruptcy. It would be much easier now to adopt sensible changes to France’s retirement system than wait for disaster.
Jazz À Vannes
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Vannes is holding its annual jazz festival this week, and I’m reaping the benefits of having one of the stages just outside my window. Here’s a sound clip and a picture for you. Hope this Friday leads to a great weekend, wherever you’re reading from!
Bastille Day
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It’s Bastille Day (14 July) here in France, and the town is abuzz with national spirit.
This morning, I was awakened by the sound of a band playing La Marseillaise, the French national anthem. And yesterday, a parade went by on the street outside my window, featuring costumes traditional of French royalty and Breton customs; there was even a bagpipe band.
Language Identification Quiz
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Who can tell me which language this page is written in?
English Spoke
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We saw this sign on a storefront in Vannes. Doesn’t really inspire much confidence.
Summer in Bretagne
Summer has finally made its way to Vannes, and life is better. Yesterday I laid out in the sun, and though I earned a few itchy mosquito bites (many of you know that if there’s a mosquito within 20 miles, it will somehow find only me!), my new coat of summertime tan is a welcome change from what was a coldish spring.
Which brings me to ponder just why we have school during the summer here in France – is this the only country where that happens? I know my friends in the States are enjoying a little time away from the hectic pace of classes to enjoy summertime get-togethers and inter-session workshops. I’m jealous.
But at least I have the sun and France!
“Morally Against the English”
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AFP: 1,000 € Fine to the Ex Police Officer for Scratching Englishmen’s Cars
Apparently the rift between the French and the English runs so deep that a former French police officer vandalized the cars of English retirees who were “intruding” upon his town. Article in French.