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Everything you always wanted to know about France |
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Crime and Passion in France
== In my last notes I mentioned an instance of drugging and theft from the Autoroute parking areas in Spain - many of you have written to me about crimes against tourists and ex-pats in Europe. Is this a rising trend? I do know that cars with foreign or a registration which is not local are targets, two years ago there were 186 cars broken into and robbed in Pezenas, a relatively small town - the local police "could not tell me" if they were local or not, in every case I knew personally they were foreign registrations. Tourist carry valuables so are bound to be a magnet for crooks - owners of second homes are, by definition, wealthier than most people and are bound to be targets - a house with alarms and security or in a wealthy neighborhood is likely to be worth breaking into, plus there is a good chance the owner will not be there. On our rental sites we will not put the addresses for the villa rentals - this, coupled with an availability calendar would be a burglars shopping catalogue. Is crime and violence increasing? - Are the local police and the Gendarmarie taking enough action? - What can be done to reduce crime? - I would welcome any feedback you can give me please - mailto:tony@frepro.com tony@frepro.com My own thoughts have always been that the tougher the shell is on a nut, the more tempting the kernel and the bigger the nutcracker will be. == A charming neighbour of ours is the writer Helena Frith-Powell, Helena writes as "The French Mistress" in the Sunday Times as well as many other periodicals and is getting a lot of press for her latest book "Two Lipsticks and a Lover" - published this Thursday. I did offer to assist her with her research, but it seems she had already found the right lipsticks. As soon as I can get my hands on a copy I hope to discover the secrets of seduction and share them with you. From what I have read so far it seems that matching underwear is a vital ingredient, I will have to synchronise my Y-fronts and liberty bodice from now on. == haiku (attempt) #4 rain after harvest grapes lie rotting in the mud but new roses bloom ======= Crime in France Tony, I was interested to read your recent news letter regarding robberies in service stations in France. Quite frankly I am surprised that the issue of crime in France has not been discussed more frequently on your website. After 18 months of ownership we have just sold our relatively modest house in Les Issambres which is a beautiful little village on the coast about 9 km as the crow flies across the bay to St Tropez. During the past 18 months our bags (despite being hidden in the boot) were stolen from our car, our house has been broken into twice, my mother and father in law were attacked in broad daylight and one of our guests had the windows of their car smashed and their bags stolen before they even made it to our house! I repeat, this is the outskirts of St Tropez we are talking about, not the docks of Marseilles. The last break-in (May of this year) to our house was the last straw for us. It occurred at 2.30am while I was in the house with my wife and 78 year old father. I called the local police as the buglers were still trying to enter the house. Their reply was that there was no one available to help us - this dispute the fact that I was talking to them in French and informed them that I was alone with my wife and aged father. I had to go out with a baseball bat that I kept in the house following the previous break-in and chase them off. This was a terrifying experience for my wife and none too pleasant for myself either. These crimes are committed by the locals - not the 'North Africans' as they are so quick to suggest - and they are directed only at non-locals because they know the police will do nothing to stop them as long as they keep their activities confined to the foreigners. All our non French neighbours have very extravagant and expensive security systems involving private 'immediate response' security companies. This is a requirement as its clear you wont get a response from the police who are quite honestly little better than the criminals. Your readers who are considering buying property in the South of France need to factor such costs into their budget. Unfortunately, there is no factoring in the cost of the feeling of insecurity that we have felt for the past year - it has made us truly miserable and it was a relief to sell the house last week. It doesnt surprise me that tourism is on the decline in the South of France and elsewhere in the country. As long as the police continue to consider them a useful diversion for the local thieves, I expect that it will continue to decline. One last piece of advice for your readers who are still determined to move to the South of France: if you are looking for a bank with outrageous charges and which specializes in totally incompetent staff, I can thoroughly recommend Credit Agricole. The branch in Les Issambres is a particularly fine example. Joseph === Joseph I sympathise and understand your frustration, your experiences must have been painful and frightening. I do know that the Cote dAzur and your area in particular is targeted as there are many non-French residents as well as holiday homes and foreign visitors. I have also had some mail about thefts and threats near Paris. My references last week were to incidents in Spanish service stations, not in France, and I have had more examples of "Motorway Crime" sent to me, again this is in Spain. My personal experience after 16 years living in France has been free from this problem, but I am not closing my eyes to an apparent increase in crime and violence everywhere, I am most grateful I no longer live in England - on every visit I feel am returning to an strange land and I find London positively menacing. I seems a sad fact that we are living in times where crime and violence are accelerating, this has been evident everywhere for the last 50 years. Perhaps modern technology makes crime more immediate and the media numbs our sensitivities to more violent and aggressive crime. Certainly many TV programs now seem to be idiots guides to theft and murder. Our own experience with dealing with the Gendarmerie locally has been generally good - they are overworked and are I believe, from the many conversations I have had with our local brigade, that they are combatting terrorism and drugs better than most countries - but it is a huge battle. I strongly disagree with you about your statement about the police. I believe they do all they can with the resources they have - at most times there is simply no time for them to deal in depth with a theft from a car or house where no one is injured, in reality the chances of solving this are very small - my observation is that this applies to just about everywhere in the world. I do tend to agree with you about banks, not just your local Cred-Ag, but all banks in all countries everywhere - the days of Captain Mannering have long gone (I am sure I would never have got a loan from him anyway). After a year of health scares, I am grateful to be alive, guarding material possessions does not seem a such a high priority to me anymore. I wish you happiness in your new home Tony There are over 1,200 articles in our archives at... http://francevoila.com/archives/ Archives Some Recent Articles http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/268 Cost of Living in France (and anywhere) http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/267 Long term rental Agreements http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/266 Robbery at service stations and parking areas http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/265 Using your pension fund for buying overseas property - problems ahead http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/264 Advice on Treating Lead Paint http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/263 More on Car Registration http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/260 Channel 4 Needs You http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/259 Lead, Termites and Asbestos in French Homes http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/258 Inheritance in France - this can affect you http://www.fblog.com/?q=node/view/254 Using your Pension Fund to buy Property in France === Our holiday/vacation rental site is at... http://rentalsfrance.com/ RentalsFrance We advertise holiday villa and gite rentals in most parts of France, established in 1998 we are one of the most prominent and successful villa rentals sites on the Internet - and aim to stay that way. Do browse through our websites and please use the advertising links, they help pay for the site. I do try to reply to all mail, most is about property or living in France. I publish comments in this newsletter which I believe are of interest and may help find answers for people wanting to come to France. By linking the points I make to our weblog at http://www.fblog.com FBlog I hope readers will go to the adverts which help support our overheads. Our business is our advertising sites for property and rentals at http://rentalsfrance.com/ RentalsFrance http://francevoila.com/ France voila Please make use of these sites (and do visit the adverts). What's New, Comments and News http://Fblog.com/ The France Weblog |
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