A work trip to Brittany, France and a chance to reflect on the differences.
I’m sat writing this in my hotel room on the outskirts of Quimper in Brittany. Usual overcast and drizzle but considering I’m only a couple of hundred miles south of home, that’s the only similarity with the Devon weather.
They simply seem to have no comprehension about the recession. There are small signs of some new office building being empty but more buildings seem to have appeared and business appears to be booming. The super market where I have lunch is even busier than last year and the shops are full of people buying things.
What’s the difference?
I’m sure my friend Chris [Chris Snuggs, another author on this Blog] who I used to work for here will be able to say, but I can’t believe it’s all about the main business of food and agriculture, which predominates in this part of the country.
Back home in Devon, the same set of circumstance ought to hold true as it’s mainly agriculture and tourism, just like in Brittany. However there is a vibrancy in Quimper that I find refreshing. And a lack of charity shops!
What can we learn from this?
I was bought up in an environment that did not trust the French and it wasn’t until I got an opportunity to work here 10 years ago I realised that it wasn’t all that I’d been told.
I really like Brittany and its people who are friendly and very welcoming. There is definitely something to learn from this.
By Jon Lavin
Learning from Dogs 
Quimper – some background ….. In 1998 I became Director of Studies at ISUGA, a small postgraduate school specialising in Asian studies. Though an existing contact of this school with the University of Exeter Business Department I met both Paul and Jon, whose formidable qualities (and subtle negotiating and salesmanship skills!) convinced me to ask them to do some teaching in my school. This was possibly my greatest coup in my ten years at ISUGA, as both gave a service to our students of supreme reliability, humanity and professionalism …..
Anyway, both know Quimper pretty well, having returned each year for their teaching slot(s), and I am particularly pleased that Jon has been asked to continue despite my leaving …. I’m sure they’d ask Paul back, too, but he is now in the USA and though he is a great flyer I’m quite happy that he is not flying solo across the Atlantic to teach as he used to fly across the Channel from Exeter. Knowing Paul, he may of course be secretly working on his “Vast Ocean-Crossing Solo” flying certificate for all I know …..
Quimper? Jon’s comments are fascinating. Wages for ordinary people in France don’t seem very high to me, though for professionals and the elite it’s another story. But as Jon said, you just don’t see much evidence of “a recession” over there, at least in pretty bourgeois Quimper. As for charity shops, you just don’t see them in the High Streets …. I hardly ever saw a boarded up shop in Quimper, but I saw plenty in Henley-on-Thames very recently.
Another thing I could never work out is where so many students got the money to have cars. Opposite my school was part of the University of Brest, and during term time the car park was chokka with cars …., yet the bus service is pretty good. (By the way, Quimper buses run on natural gas …. I’m not sure why we haven’t got that in London yet ….)
Taxes in France are high, particularly those paid by employers for their staff, the famous “charges”. It is also extremely difficult to fire anyone.
Perversely, this means that employers will often do anything to avoid taking on staff and so are constantly finding ways to innovate and improve productivity. It was said a few years ago (not sure if I am up to date) that French workers are more productive than Americans for this very reason.
The flipside of course is that unemployment in France is endemically higher than in many European countries, but it seems to be a price that they are ready to pay. This is a fascinating area … it seems that in Denmark, for example, it is far easier to hire and fire than in France, and this results (or is it coincidence?) in an unemployment rate several points lower. So trying to protect jobs actually increases unemployment. Or so it seems at first glance …..
Well, I digress a little, so let’s return to our sheep as the French say ….. why do the French on the surface seem to be weathering this shambles better? High taxes of course go hand in hand not only with government waste but also to be fair with higher benefits, so perhaps the French are better cushioned against a recession.
Health provision is very good indeed, even if the budget is under strain as elsewhere …. the climate in Quimper is among the best in Europe and the general quality of life is very good.
Actually, I don’t know … are appearances deceptive or is there something they are doing right that the British are not?
We need an expert on the case!
Chris
LikeLike
Agreed. I am personally fed up with the supposed hostility of the French and the British. It’s made up, it does not exist. One may as well talk about the supposed hostility between two different neighboring villages.
Having long lived in the USA, I know from experience that British and French mentality are basically identical, in light of the, very different, American mentality.
“Bretagne” comes from Britania, because that is where the British army retreated to, after the successful Anglo-Saxon invasion (~ 555 CE). After the Roman legions had been removed in 400 CE (or so), Britania had been left virtually defenseless. Carlus Magnus (“Charlemagne” in degenerated Latin) finally conquered the Anglo-Saxons of Germany only shortly before 800 CE (after they had invaded Britania).
The counter-attack happened in 1066 CE, when the (bastard) Duke (a Roman army title) of Normandy counter-attacked with a French army. Later many elements of the Roman republic were grafted directly into Britain, making her the most advanced democracy.
A rivalry between French houses caused the ridiculous, but very bloody, 478 year old “100 years war”. In this light, even Joan of Arc (who violated a peace treaty)does not sound the best (long story).
In any case, France and Britain are the same polity, and English is Anglo-Normand (hahahaha)…
PA
LikeLike
Patrice – as usual, you are right on the money (is that the right jargon?) And the interesting question is, why on earth should ANYTHING that was done by people BEFORE WE WERE BORN be carried over so long by following generations?
I can understand the Muslims at the time of the Crusades being upset with the Christians, but that was one thousand years ago! It’s not MY fault!! Agincourt? Sad for many who died pretty uselessly it must be said, but for goodness sake, let’s get OVER it!!
The Germans have it right; they have got over Hitler …. hardly any Germans are left who were alive at that time ….. and they have shed their complexes; but have the British really got over the war? Not so sure …..
The Turks should FREELY admit that the Amenians suffered a kind of genocide during WWI. That reflects NO BLAME on any Turks living today. What DOES reflect badly on them is the REFUSAL to admit that it was genocide.
Let’s concentrate on NOW and TOMORROW!
Patrice – I really appreciate your posts … you get to the point very fast and convincingly …..
LikeLike