Skip to main content

Indecision

I know how big business feels when considering their future after Brexit.  What should we be doing to prepare for it?  I have no idea.  Should  I try and sell my house?  Should I move to yet another country, in which case which one?  It has been recommended that British citizens get a permanent resident permit.  For most Brits this has been fairly easy but for me it has taken 2 years to finally get an appointment, reluctantly granted after I told the Prefecture that I had an e mail  from the Minister of Interior.

So on Thursday I have a 2 hour drive to a town I have never been to for my interview.  The Prefecture gave me a list of documents I should bring, but only after I asked what I would need.  Their list bears no relation to the official list from the Minister of Interior but I am not taking any chances, I am going to take everything.  I have always said that French bureaucracy is fine as long as you have the right documents so now I need to put my money where my mouth is.  Watch this space.

Yesterday I sat in a cafe with friends.  The temperature was 35 degrees and I didn't hear one person comment on the weather or the heat.  In fact with no interest in the weather and with mention of Trump being banned because the Americans are too ashamed to admit he is their President, Brexit declared to be too boring, conversation turned to more enjoyable subjects.  Everyone was in a pleasant mood until a man of unknown nationality decided to join us and declare that the Aryan people were the only true rulers of the world.

Haven't I heard that somewhere before? 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Playing by ear

My father could play the piano.  Not an unusual skill but he was deaf.  He lost his  hearing fighting in the army in India in the 30s so he was an adult when he lost it and therefore remembered tunes, even though he couldn't hear him.  However he didn't have the skill to learn anything new so  either you liked the old music or you didn't.  He used to say that he played by ear and then would roar with laughter.  He would have struggled in many ways with modern living but most of all during the pandemic, he would have lost his ability to communicate as he always lip read.  There must be thousands of people like him today who still rely on reading lips to understand,  in fact all of us do it to some extent, so please be patient if someone is struggling to communicate while you are wearing a mask. I went to the supermarket today and at the check out, the cashier asked me to move the trolley into a particular position.  As I manoeuvred it ...

Mondays

 Last Monday my son and daughter in law were due to catch the 8.15am ferry from Portsmouth to Caen.  It was 6.45am when I stepped out of the shower and heard my phone  going.  I snatched it up.  It was a video  call.  'Mum, we have big problems here,'  and before I could speak he thrust the phone into the hands of a Brittany ferries' staff member and said, 'Talk  to my mum.'  Barely conscious of my wet, tangled hair and trying to cover myself up with a  towel which thought gravity was fun, I asked what the problem was.  Apparently they had the wrong vaccination certificates and were being refused passage.  I asked what I could do and she said they could go and get a test and take a later ferry.  'Where is the nearest test centre in Portsmouth?'  I asked.  'There isn't one,' she replied, 'there  is one in Southampton, or Havant.'  What!  No test centre in Portsmouth?  They both have learni...

Equality

 I don't want to hear another person  say that women should be equal to men.  There is no 'should' about it, women ARE equal to men but they are not treated equally.  It has never occurred to me that I am  not equal to any man.  Am I treated equally?  Sometimes yes, sometimes no.  It requires a step change in the way women think of themselves as being equal before we can hope for attitudes, legislation, economics to  follow and that is my rant for the day. Ever since I have lived in France I have noticed a stark difference between the French and the British sense of humour.  The dry, irreverent humour of the British is completely wasted on the French, and the Dutch and the Americans sometimes for that matter.  Clearly the British humour is unique.  Yesterday I gave an article to a French friend to read.  It was a humorous piece, self deprecating about a woman suffering an attack by an insect on her face with hideous result...