French way of life

The French in Normandy ie rural France appear to have what I would call a fairly relaxed attitude to work and possibly that contributes to a more balanced lifestyle. The wait patiently in ordered lines and never seem to be in a hurry to serve you or get anywhere. Its a pleasant change in pace although it takes some adjusting too when you are less patient than some . The shops are all closed on Sunday and Monday and between 12-2 for lunch everyone goes home . When you walk or drive through the towns or villages there is no one to be seen. One patisserie stays open until mid morning in each village to service the locals who have to have a fresh baguette and croissant each day

It is the summer holidays in France and many of the locals pack up and go away , children being off school so an ideal time for families to get away in their numerous camper vans and caravans which you see all over the countryside. There are specific parking areas for these and stops along the motorways . Many of the shops are even closed due to the holidays, Seems rather strange to me considering this is also the high season for tourists..... but that's the French for you .... they do what they want , when they want, Very individual!

They love their gardens. There are flowers in boxes under the windows , plants in containers flower beds, and neatly trimmed hedges.The villages display baskets of flowers hanging from shops frontages , even to flowers cascading down railing around the footpaths . Trees are everywhere in the countryside. It is so much greener than even NZ. Very picturesque with a few huge cows,dotted over the countryside , a donkey and goat here and there and some thoroughbred horses around the area we we 'live' .

Firewood is another feature of the landscape with numerous piles of what I would call sticks ( branches ) and then logs stacked neatly beside the home and in the paddocks for winter fires. Firewood is easily sourced due to the number of trees everywhere and it is the main heating fuel for the home .

Every village, and there seem to villages every 10 kms, have at least one patisserie/ boulangerie and charcuterie, ( pork butchery) and a coiffeur( hairdresser) . There is usually always a fantastic Gothic style cathedral with leadlights and frescoes, and a cemetery with graves that are adorned with plaques , ornaments and grand to very ornate headstones . No obvious signs of theft and vandalism of these beautiful places which seem to be just left open.

The local Depot Vente ( second hand traders ) are very popular and you can source a few bargains from what I found when I visited ( see separate blog with photos of things I would like to purchase for under generally between 50-100 euros.

There are roundabouts everywhere on the main roads one after the other and they are planted out like small cities with gardens and wooden structures, all of which obscure the traffic going around. There is no indicating to exit the roundabouts, some of which are massive with no road markings . The open speed limit is 90kms on the secondary roads -130kms on the larger motorways. The roads are very well maintained. No pot holes or tarmac broken .So smooth to drive on compared to Turkey ! Some of the road signs are interesting and we haven't yet worked all of them out which is a worry considering we are driving . There is one sign of a car and a red diagonal line through it . I thought is meant cars cant go down this road but we driven down theses roads following other cars ....perhaps we shouldn't have! Petrol is more expensive than NZ 1.34 euro a litre .

There are isles of cheese and a deli section as well and cheap french wine starting from 1.5 euros a bottle . Rose is very popular and blends of Syrah Rose and Cabernet Rose . Moet in the supermarket is about 29 euros. Red meat as we know it in NZ ( steak, roast beef and mince) seems scarce in the supermarkets ,there is more pork and a wonderful selection of seafood .A very small section of fresh milk which we buy from of course and rows and rows of the UHT milk (yuk) .Everyone takes their own bags to the supermarket, no plastic bags and you pack your own groceries . You even have to put a coin into a slot in the trolleys which are all chained together with a locking mechanism , to release them and when you return the trolley you get your money back. No theft of trolleys here..NZ students .

Taxes are apparently high for self employed ( 64%) , less for people employed . Due to the socialist government apparently for every euro earned by an employee the employer has to pay the same amount in tax. It is a welfare country with numerous very generous benefits, especially high redundancy payouts and you can retire at 55! The unions are very strong and powerful . I was informed by a friend of Jon's that the French belief is that he government works for them and should be directly influenced by the people, not the other way around ( the post revolution philosophy ) . The health system is reported to be amazing and you can stay in hospital until you have recovered ...wow now there's a novel idea !

Recycling is big and you have bins everywhere all over the countryside for paper/ cardboard , plastic and glass. You cant put any of these in the wheelie bins which are collected weekly from the gate. you have to put all rubbish into clear large plastic bags even in the wheelie bins and I presume if you have thrown things into this that you shouldn't have you run the risk of the bin not being emptied . Even at the local 'dump' you separate out all your rubbish. No landfills here .