Foreign Perspectives

Archive for the ‘Society’ Category

We thought we’d have a little daytrip to see the Pont du Gard on Wednesday. It’s only about two hours drive from here so no real problem getting there and back in a day.

The game plan was that we’d head off as soon as the guests checked out ie around 9am but, as usual, didn’t make it away ’til rather later than that and it ended up being more like 11.30 before we started onto the motorway. As it turned out, that was about the perfect time to see the aqueduct as in the morning the sun highlights the abomination that the French added in the 1700s (ie the bridge) and in the afternoon it highlights perfectly the aqueduct itself leaving the bridge in the shade, as it should be.

By then we’d had a quick squint at the map and figured that as we were there anyway that we might as well stay and see both Nimes and Avignon.

Or, in short, we’re just back this evening.

We’d a very enjoyable evening last night when Colin McAllister who bills himself as a storyteller and traditional singer had a meal with us and treated us to an excellent song about Killinchy where I grew up. He’s got probably one of the best “jobs” (if you could call it that) in that he gets paid to tell stories in a number of different European countries and obviously considers it as a very enjoyable hobby that just happens to pay money.

The Polish family who called in for a meal have put the thought in our heads of going to Poland for our Christmas break. Poland probably isn’t the first country that you’d think of going for Christmas but they seem to have pretty much the same Christmas traditions as we do, unlike the more southerly countries in Europe.

Well, touches down is a little more correct as the runway at Perpignan is too short by a long, long way for it to actually land.

Perpignan airport is at quite a convenient distance from Toulouse so it’s quite a popular spot for plane spotters after a view of the latest models of Airbus being tested.

We just happened upon this particular test of the landing and taking off of the A380 this afternoon. What’s very, very striking about the plane is that it is considerably more quiet than the normal Airbus plane such as the Ryanair one that landed during the test flight.

No matter where you live in the world, you’re pretty much sure to have at least some tourists coming to see things which you pass by every day.

We were just the same in Northern Ireland. In the three or four months before we left, we made a point of visiting as many of the tourist sites that we’d not gotten around to in the preceeding decades and I’m sure the majority of you are the same.

Over here, we’re just as bad. That’s a photo of Querbus Castle which we can see every day we go out the door yet we’ve not once been to see it up close!

So, when the holidays are over for you, why not allocate a few weekends over the coming year to go out and visit the tourist attractions that are on your doorstep? I’m sure you’ll be quite surprised to see just how many there are when you call in at the local tourist office!

We’ve just received the bill for the health insurance for the coming year…. EUR 10,047!!

Yes, ten thousand euros.

As with all French administrative organisations, the health insurance people take an incredibly optimistic view of the income that a business is receiving when they make their estimates. Start-up business are assumed to make tens of thousands of euros even after all their start-up expenses have been taken into account.

By year three we are apparently supposed to be making around EUR 155,000 before expenses are deducted, hence the somewhat ridiculous figure of EUR 10,000 that they want us to pay at this point.

Why the estimate though? Well, our accountant still hasn’t gotten around to doing the books for 2005 and recently announced that they need more information for 2006 despite assuring us nearly six months ago that they definitely had everything that was required.