tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post2654152332292645002..comments2024-01-12T00:35:16.941+01:00Comments on French Leave: Molesworth or Fotherington - Thomas?the fly in the webhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-33470964401139133412010-09-28T01:47:13.504+02:002010-09-28T01:47:13.504+02:00P(V)LiF, Ooh! I'll just go and find my flame p...P(V)LiF, Ooh! I'll just go and find my flame proof underwear!<br />I haven't seen those articles, unfortunately or I might have roused myself enough to join in.<br />I am amazed by the energy the F - T's display in turning on anyone of the Molesworth persuasion, but there...we Molesworths are tough or we'd never have survived St. Custards.the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-16580168276489563662010-09-28T00:36:11.808+02:002010-09-28T00:36:11.808+02:00Careful now Missus, don't let 'them' r...Careful now Missus, don't let 'them' read this or you'll be lynched, well cyber-lynched at least. I have been many times by those who think that speaking the truth is tantamount to torturing a puppy. There have been quite a few 'it ain't all that' articles in the media recently and the comments from the F-Ts would be enough to make the Third Reich write in to the Guardian. I'm a Molesworth and proud!The Accidental Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01146937745719946782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-48561615292550357422010-09-27T20:14:49.575+02:002010-09-27T20:14:49.575+02:00Pueblo girl, they do seem to be particularly poiso...Pueblo girl, they do seem to be particularly poisonous...and the effect is that those who want to keep clear find themselves a bit isolated as they colonise every attempt to start up groups or just to have get togethers.<br />I'm putting stuff together for the book, and the amount of material horrifies me, so I'm following nodamnblog's advice and just collecting it all...ready for culling as I go along.<br />Wouldn't think it will ever get past an agent, let alone a publisher though....it doesn't fit what they want to palm off on their readers.<br /><br />However, when its is done, I'll send the files over to anyone who wants to read them...but it won't be yet!the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-66717234611711390982010-09-27T19:13:38.460+02:002010-09-27T19:13:38.460+02:00The immigrant community you describe sounds repugn...The immigrant community you describe sounds repugnantly cliquey and smug.<br /><br />And your blog should be required reading for anyone thinking of moving to France!Pueblo girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04904318623281033442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-16957874826164812382010-09-27T15:08:01.010+02:002010-09-27T15:08:01.010+02:00Dedene, he is a beauty, isn't he?
I just wish ...Dedene, he is a beauty, isn't he?<br />I just wish that people would take France as it is rather than go along with these myths, and keep out of the hands of the more exploitative immigrants...who don't like being called such.<br />Expat sounds better, they feel.<br />Those ceps on your blog made me want to rush out and go picking!the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-8283016842629562802010-09-27T12:40:43.950+02:002010-09-27T12:40:43.950+02:00I much enjoyed being introduced to Moleskin. Being...I much enjoyed being introduced to Moleskin. Being an american, I'd never met him before.<br />And you're right that most expats (even when they come with their jobs) have no clue what living in France is all about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-64063066534574997882010-09-26T15:16:18.482+02:002010-09-26T15:16:18.482+02:00Mark, the news about corruption in France is how f...Mark, the news about corruption in France is how far down the food chain it goes.<br /><br />Yes, I certainly do remember HM Customs and Excise's little tricks....we always used to wonder how Brother managed to return from his trips from Belgium via Luxembourg to pick up an estate car load of cigarettes and never have a problem.<br />We used to suppose that they took one look at his fingers and agreed that it was all for personal use!<br />However, I think it was more down to being an official in one of the civil service unions and knowing when Customs would be on strike.<br /><br />If the fonctionnaire was protected from verbal assault by the nature of his office, in my view the case would go nowhere....but that's just my view based on the EHRC and the jurisprudence of the ECHR.<br /><br />This post came about because of a sad incident where a very nice man has run into problems...believing all the F - T guff about France.....at which point the F - Ts are putting him down for being gullible!<br /><br />Rosie, thanks for an introduction to Spotty Dog!<br /><br />Molesworth came to mind because we were wondering what had happened to the headmasters and mistresses of our day and I remembered the school assemblies where our crimes were brought home to us collectively.<br />The diatribe would always start with 'Some girl has....' and I remembered Molesworth's headmaster...<br />'Some boy have...then a whole list of alternatives starting with blocking the drains with his socks...'<br />So I went to look for my Molesworths....only to find them gone.the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-85687053507692174742010-09-26T11:10:43.795+02:002010-09-26T11:10:43.795+02:00Molesworth! I had forgotten him. How could I? Than...Molesworth! I had forgotten him. How could I? Thank you for the reminder.Rosiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17467630407914812378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-19729953098174114772010-09-26T10:03:16.250+02:002010-09-26T10:03:16.250+02:00Hi Fly,
I think that there's not much news in...Hi Fly,<br /><br />I think that there's not much news in the observation that power corrupts. Perhaps France is worse in this regard than other European countries, but there are certainly worse countries in the world, and probably better also.<br /><br />I am wondering if the European courts might be of some use. You might remember that when the rules for E.C. members changed so that you could bring unlimited quantities of alcohol into the UK as long as it was for private consumption? H.M Customs' response to this was simply to decide, on the basis of the volume of wine you were bringing back, that they didn't believe that it could all be for private consumption, 21st birthdays or weddings on the horizon or not. They would then steal your car and sell it. This practice was declared illegal by a European court. (They called it confiscation at the time, but since it has been declared illegal, I think that the misappropriation of private property counts as theft in this case)<br /><br />For example how long would the French prohibition on the free speech of giving your full and frank opinion of an incompetent fonctionnaire survive in the face of a determined attack.<br /><br />MarkMark In Mayennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14987723233401368368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-84981783902146426752010-09-25T20:30:01.300+02:002010-09-25T20:30:01.300+02:00Lo, thank you for picking me up on Searle! I'l...Lo, thank you for picking me up on Searle! I'll change it on the blog.<br />Rap myself over knuckles for not checking everything thoroughly!<br /><br />There's a lot more to living in France than going down the road for croissants every morning - particularly if they're made with industrial fat! <br />Out in the sticks there is a great deal to be said for buying your baked goods from a supermarket.<br /><br />I'm a political animal, so things that make my blood boil may not do the same for others....<br /><br /><br />Steve, yes, down with mowing the lawn...anywhere!<br /><br />I think people moving to another country spend the first couple of years as if it is an extended holiday - everything new and interesting -but at some point reality creeps in unless you want to hide your head in the sand.the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-66177743849485590972010-09-25T19:54:07.527+02:002010-09-25T19:54:07.527+02:00The grass is always greener on the other side when...The grass is always greener on the other side when you merely camp there for a week in the summer... it's a different story when you come to buy it and find it needs mowing every fortnight.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02133900289384226725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-721446386847479452010-09-25T19:54:04.255+02:002010-09-25T19:54:04.255+02:00Dear Fly.......thanks so much for revealing a bit ...Dear Fly.......thanks so much for revealing a bit of the truth about living in France. It will help me a lot and I plan to send your post to a friend who dreams of nothing else but moving to France.<br /><br />However, I must chastise you for misspelling the name of the brilliant illustrator of your Molesworth series.....he was Ronald Searle the most fantastic artist and illustrator of the 2oth century. I wish you still had those books....I'd buy 'em from you.Lohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398370059689865989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-21858543567100302112010-09-25T18:57:25.190+02:002010-09-25T18:57:25.190+02:00Sarah, my French friends think the same way I do.....Sarah, my French friends think the same way I do....fed up to their back teeth with little self appointed jacks in office, fed up with the amount of aggro...totally unneccessary aggro...to get simple things done, but that's how life has always been for them.<br />They're 'little people'. <br /><br />But the people at the bottom of the heap are usually nice.<br /><br />I reckon with what happened on your blog that the French lead such restricted lives, afraid to put one foot out of step with the herd, that the experience of power on the PTA went to their heads.<br />You committed the crime of putting a foot out of line. The challenge was more than they could bear!<br />How unFrench of you.the fly in the webhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04563871975125538755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021650718999668529.post-47498358886925597902010-09-25T18:30:27.052+02:002010-09-25T18:30:27.052+02:00Excellent post, Fly, and I quite agree with your l...Excellent post, Fly, and I quite agree with your last comment on my blog too.<br /><br />Anyone who retains the rosy view of living in France must be doing it on purpose. Quite agree with your observation about jealousy, and I'd add to that hysterical, especially after my experiences of this week. <br /><br />Apparently there was an absolute tidal wave of it and one over-excited person wanted to go to the mairie to sue me for racism I think, over the fact that I said the French had a knack for the nauseating. lol<br /><br />Oh critical truth, thou doth hurt. No idea why they give a shit what I think though. That has to be a first!Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13195684182481935384noreply@blogger.com