And it went like this:
WHEN (signed in LSF)
“the nineteenth” (French mouthing)
Awesome!
And it went like this:
WHEN (signed in LSF)
“the nineteenth” (French mouthing)
Awesome!
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
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?!?
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.
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.
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!
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.