Sunday, December 21, 2008

Ah, diddums!

Today's Guardian has an article on poor, middle class Brits who moved to rural France when the pound was high but now have trouble making ends meet. Apparently some of the poor dears will have to move back to where they came from (Immigrants! Immigrants! Where's the lynch mob? - sorry, wrong newspaper!), as the current exchange rate makes France more expensive to the tourists they catered for, though there's no mention of the fact that when they sell up, the same exchange rate will get them far more pounds than they would have earned six months ago. Interesting, too, that nearly all the article is devoted to whining Brits, and only the last two paragraphs quote someone French.

I've very little sympathy, to be honest. These people have been pricing locals out of the housing market for years; now the party's over and maybe that's not entirely a bad thing, especially since so many of these properties were second homes and only occupied for part of the year anyway. It's the locals with nowhere else to go when their businesses suffer who I feel sorry for.

But it's an ill wind, as they say. Mme la prof and I plan to take full advantage of the 1:1 (almost, at the time of writing) exchange rate when we pop over for Christmas. I see it as us doing our bit to prop up the British economy (and no, we're not buying a run down cottage in the Scottish Highland - we want to spend out holidays somewhere warm!). Maybe the Guardian would like to interview me....

2 comments:

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

I'm an American living in France and I say 'hear, hear'... folks are quite happy to take advantage when it is going their way and cry foul and whinge the moment the tide turns.

Many of the English in my neck of the woods do little to add to the community, taking a separatist approach while benefiting from cheap land/housing prices. Lived here for years and still can't manage simple phrases, support primarily English businesses ... generally just give expats a bad name.

There I've said it and will probably be lambasted for it . sigh.

Anonymous said...

M. le Prof has some homework...

http://www.eltworld.net/blog/2009/02/7-things-you-probably-don’t-know-about-me/