New Order fans moving to Paris...

Originally posted by Anne Joyce > Originally posted by Detweiler 3.63> Every town has its crap areas, its places you can't safely walk after a certain time. It's something to do with human beings, cram them together in small places and those who can't afford to get out will bring the place down, and those who can afford to get out will bring their place down and drive away laughing.> > I've spent a lot of time in Paris and touch wood I've never had any problems there, I'd move there tomorrow if I could. Give me rural France any day though, that would be just about perfect for me.

what does everyone think? should we just risk it and move south/smaller town right away? i mean, we both speak french... but i kinda like the idea of starting out in paris... i'm a writer so living there holds a certain literary fascination for me (not to sound hokey or anything...).

If you can afford it, go for Paris (it's actually quite hard to find a flat there and the rents are very high). It's just the place to be (at least for a moment of your life) in France. If you live in Paris itself, you wont have to run after midnight because you might miss your last train/subway or pay shitloads of money for a cab. Then try to visit the rest of France. Landscapes and people are very different from the ones you could see and meet in the rest of France. And you are more than welcome to visit me in Lyon with your husband.

Originally posted by francois-marc loze > Originally posted by Anne Joyce> > > > Originally posted by Detweiler 3.63> > Every town has its crap areas, its places you can't safely walk after a certain time. It's something to do with human beings, cram them together in small places and those who can't afford to get out will bring the place down, and those who can afford to get out will bring their place down and drive away laughing.> > > > I've spent a lot of time in Paris and touch wood I've never had any problems there, I'd move there tomorrow if I could. Give me rural France any day though, that would be just about perfect for me.>

what does everyone think? should we just risk it and move south/smaller town right away? i mean, we both speak french... but i kinda like the idea of starting out in paris... i'm a writer so living there holds a certain literary fascination for me (not to sound hokey or anything...).

If you can afford it, go for Paris (it's actually quite hard to find a flat there and the rents are very high). It's just the place to be (at least for a moment of your life) in France. If you live in Paris itself, you wont have to run after midnight because you might miss your last train/subway or pay shitloads of money for a cab. Then try to visit the rest of France. Landscapes and people are very different from the ones you could see and meet in the rest of France. And you are more than welcome to visit me in Lyon with your husband.

we will definitely take you up on the invite! ;)

thanks for all the tips. we're hoping to have a bit of money to keep us going at first, but who knows if we'll be able to hack it in paris. maybe not. we'll try though. i have no idea what it'll be like finding a job, etc. so much unknown (part of the beauty of it, i suppose...).

nice postal service quote, btw!

:D

The reason Le Pen got 17% and became a finalist was because of a very low turn out and because the socialists, showing a typical trait of lack of any cohesivness couldnt find a uniform candidate and hence split the vote.

I actually applaud the french govts recent actions in combating racism there. There is a long way to go, and it might be a battle that is unwinnable, but as long as people do their bit, these sad fools will perpetually be on the sidelines.

paris: Expensive, but nice

Originally posted by Hank Wiseass© Don't know the figures but I'd guess the BNP wouldn't be at more than 1% in opinion poll figures. 17% is somewhere I'd expect the Lib Dems to be at. They have managed to get a lot of publicity out of targeting a few hotspots of racial tension, such as Oldham but overall are pretty inconsequential. That doesn't mean we don't have a far more significant number of racists.Just checked one source, all other* parties combined were at 8% in an opinion poll for The Guardian in Feb 2004. I think the Ulster Unionist are the 4th largest party, though the Scottish National Party was doing quite well until recently. *i.e. not Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem.

Its probably unfair to count the Northern Ireland parties, as they all run effectively racist campaigns. And remember, thats share of the seats, not share of the vote. The Lib Dems share of the vote is around 20%, but they have 10% (approx) of the seats. Labour have 60% of the seats, but recieved 41% of the vote. And if you want to be really pedantic, 24% of the electorate voted labor. So figures can be misleading.

Either way, the BNP is exceptionally low. I epxect thier vote to gain, wouldnt be at all surprised to see them gain a seat in the Euro elections. Events like 9/11 and Madrid are, sadly, brilliant propaganda for the BNP so i expect them to capitilise on that.

Originally posted by Take My Hand (And Don't Let Go) Excuse my ignorance, but since I'm pretty sure the Banque Nationale de Paris didn't become a political party overnight, can you please tell me what BNP stands for?

It's the British National Party http://www.bnp.org.uk/

Originally posted by Spotnick BTW, Anne knows about abusive rent prices.. she moved from Montréal to Toronto :p

that's for sure! although, now my tiny (but balcony-ed) apt. is shared with my hubby, so i pay very little!

'twas a shock, however, moving from mtl. to toronto (rental prices only, of course, since i did grow up here!).

but i think paris is much worse... who knows, we may end up ditching the city and moving south. we'll see. can't really know until we arrive and have spent a couple weeks there.

we're moving there with nothing. roan is going to sell a shitload of vintage music equipment (keyboards, samplers, guitars, etc.) on ebay so we have so extra cash... so if anyone's looking to buy some quality, hard-to-find stuff, lemme know!

blah blah blah...

Originally posted by Spotnick Well, if you think gas is expensive in Canada, wait 'til you go to Europe.Good news is, wine is cheaper than coca-cola there!!

we don't drive now and would only ever rent a car for weekends there...

but very good news about the wine! gonna drink me much o that!

aj

Originally posted by Spotnick Well, if you think gas is expensive in Canada, wait 'til you go to Europe.Good news is, wine is cheaper than coca-cola there!!

You mean a glass of wine? I never actually drink wine in Cafés here...

More on the BNP

Yeah, the whole BNP-thing has been hugely exaggerated. It's depressing for sure, but no surprise where they gain a (limited) foothold: Bradford, Burnley, Oldham, even Stoke - run down shitty towns that haven't moved from the heavy industries they were built upon into the shimmering post-industrial dream. Add to this low average wages, high unemployment, years of socio-economic neglect......it's no wonder people are pissed off, and pissed-off people need someone or something to vent their anger on. Which is where the BNP come in....

A case in point: during the so-called race riots in Oldham etc, there's was a minor disturbance in Stoke where a bunch of about 20 asian lads burned a few cars and chucked bricks at a few coppers. There had been a rumour that the BNP were going to march through Cobridge, the shittiest part of the city and a district with a large Asian population. Add to this the fact that 500 hundred asylum seekers had been recently housed in the area (and how pissed off must they have felt?) and you're just asking for trouble. Christ, if I lived in Cobridge I'd be out chucking bricks at coppers and burning cars every fucking night of the week.

Having no prospects and feeling like you've been shat on all your life is always going to lead people towards groups like the BNP, and until deacdes worth of socio-economic neglect is undone, there'll always be a gravitation towards far-right groups. Sad, but painfully true.