Why can't we be like the french ?

HERBIEMERCMAN

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hi everyone, my neighbour has just returned from 2 months in southern france,improving his old home there. he's the guy i told you about some weeks ago who bought a as new v6 merc, 8 yrs old, convertible for £13K.

however i saw him today and told him how petty the car laws are getting here. he said the french people are more laid back than the brits and don't suffer government rules which don't make sense.

when i told him about our pending number plate laws and MOT new laws, he just laughed. what suckers we are here. he said if a driver in france gets banned from driving they buy a "rescue car", this is a three cylinder small car that has three forward and NO reverse gear. you do not need a driving licence to drive one of these cars. you get 70 mpg. and you can sell it on when you get your licence back for the same money as you paid for it.

generally the people pull together, good food and good drink are important, the law know the score and keep a low profile , other than serious situations.

a flickering back light or a number plate without a post code etc. would be a joke.

imported people are treated with respect as long as they do not try to change the french way of life, they are also helped as far as is possible to help them on their way to the uk. the french president, all be it a bit of a "jack the lad", puts french requirements before "visitors" requirements, he gets much respect for this, just like the australian prime minister.

we brits deseve all we get, it takes a lot for us to stand up and be counted. herbiemercman.
 

LSD

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I am disappointed to have to agree with you. This place has become the world test and development bed for the oppression tools & rules that are gradually enslaving "ordinary" people all over the developed world. Once it works here, it gets introduced to many of our English-speaking allies in other parts. The parallels with the 'States for one as far as goes the clamping down on travel and the road system are plain to see: the words and the bullsh*t used are all the same.

Safety and the environment? No. Control, revenue and obedience training? Yes, in my opinion.

Speak with most people in this vein now and they will automatically say "we are too soft/daft/stupid here, we just accept it". Well perhaps we weren't until we were convinced to think that way. It's been a clever brainwashing job by a very few very committed people.

Rules and regulations are necessary in context to a certain extent in most spheres. The problem now in the UK is, people have been "trained" to so expect them in everything they do, they almost look for the rules.
 

Splatt

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There is an ethic in France of ignoring pettifogging regulation but living within a defined code of acceptable behaviour. The French spend a lot of time taking their neighbours to law over percieved violations of their rights and property. Some of those who came unstuck were Brits who thought anything goes in France, did things like taking their UK registered car to France and run it for years on UK plates and an expired UK excise license, got away with it for a while but got clobbered in the end.
 

st4

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Yet if we drive in France the rules and regs for us are rigorously imposed. I am not surprised to hear that for their own their pedantic goings on aren't so.

Still, I wouldn't want to be a Brit in France.
 

lakeside

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Yet if we drive in France the rules and regs for us are rigorously imposed. I am not surprised to hear that for their own their pedantic goings on aren't so.
Really? I've been driving in France extensively and regularly since 1970, and never been stopped, fined, or even spoken to by the French police, apart from the odd tachograph or customs check at toll booths when driving trucks (French truck drivers have this too). Do you have trouble when you drive there?
 

amwebby

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It is said that the difference between Britain and the continent is that we respect the law but do not respect authority whereas people on the continent respect authority but have no respect for the law, hence their proclivity for fancy uniforms and blatant disregard for laws that don't suit them. Everything said in this thread supports that view.
 

kelbenz

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a flickering back light or a number plate without a post code etc. would be a joke.

Just as well really as the electrics seem to be iffy on most French cars. They would be too busy to harass UK holidaymakers:p
 

roadhog

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Still, I wouldn't want to be a Brit in France.

Neither would I but I'll never have either of those two issues. ;)

As an untrained observer the french strike me as looking after their own interests and kicking off when things don't suit them. I don't see much wrong with that in principle.
 

st4

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Neither would I but I'll never have either of those two issues. ;)

As an untrained observer the french strike me as looking after their own interests and kicking off when things don't suit them. I don't see much wrong with that in principle.

Yes, we are a spineless bunch compared to those on the continent :Oops:
 

roadhog

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It wouldn't be nearly as effective blockading the UK side of the channel ports though. :D
 

alan782

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I worked at a casino in France (Le Touque) refurbing it for 9 months some time ago and once they accepted we were not taking there jobs we had a great time. The people (including the Law) were very good people to work, drink and eat with. I think they have it right and us wrong. When something happens they all dislike they stand toghether and be counted and dont give up untill they get a result.
 

Alex M Grieve

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I worked at a casino in France (Le Touque) refurbing it for 9 months some time ago and once they accepted we were not taking there jobs we had a great time. The people (including the Law) were very good people to work, drink and eat with. I think they have it right and us wrong. When something happens they all dislike they stand toghether and be counted and dont give up untill they get a result.

As the Red Queen said "Off with their heads"! (Alice in Wonderland).
 

gaz6148

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i was in france when the french blockaded the port, i was gutted at the 24 hours i waited, but knew nothing would shift them so just had to sit it out.
made me smile though when another time i was in dover and the port was on strike (well some of them) yet all they could do was stand by the side of the entrance and heckle at people going through, but then we have never stood up for ourselves
 

teddycatkin

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Why are "the camps" of hundreds people waiting on the other side of the channel to come here to live if its so nice and easygoing there then -- should they not be in Dover trying to escape to France ?
 

roadhog

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Why are "the camps" of hundreds people waiting on the other side of the channel to come here to live if its so nice and easygoing there then -- should they not be in Dover trying to escape to France ?

Is that not a perfect example of the french looking after their own interests and the UK not?
 

LSD

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Why are "the camps" of hundreds people waiting on the other side of the channel to come here to live if its so nice and easygoing there then -- should they not be in Dover trying to escape to France ?


Answer not necessary.
 


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