On 2/10/06 17:28, in article ,
"David in Normandy" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
Tell me how! Please! I think the house looks beautiful, such a pretty
building and you must be very happy there. There are other things like
the
medical care which seem to be fantastic. A friend of ours lives in
another
part of France and when her husband was ill and dying, he received
absolutely wonderful treatment.
--
Sacha

How to which bit?

The MacDonalds bit!

Yes, we like the rural setting. It's not to everyone's taste, but for those
who like a quiet life it is perfect. The French health service is supposed
to be the best in the world. Unfortunately it isn't entirely free like the
UK one. Typically you are reimbursed 90% (approximately) of most medical
expenses, but you are left with a proportion to pay yourself . Most people
get private insurance for the remaining 10%, but it can be difficult to pin
down exactly what you are and aren't covered for even with this and there
are a lot of rules, regulations and get-out clauses for the insurer. The
premiums increase as you get older - pensioners pay the most! It can also be
a nightmare to join the French health system - you wouldn't believe the
amount of forms and documents involved and the endless delays and cock-ups
made by the bureaucrats processing them. After a year we are still not
'fully' registered into the system.

This friend has been living in France for about 12 or more years now so I
thinks she's well 'in'. She did tell me that she had to pay for doctors'
treatments but was reimbursed most of it. Jersey has a similar system,
there is no public health care there unless people can prove absolutely that
they cannot possibly pay.

Overall we are pleased with the move here, but like anything else there are
good and bad things. People from the UK tend to find French bureaucracy a
major irritation. Inheritance laws are also a big issue - in the UK you can
leave anything to anybody, but here in France the law dictates who you leave
things to.

Again, Jersey follows the Norman law of partage, so I'm accustomed to that,
too. It's a third to the spouse, a third to the children and a third where
you wish.


Spouses also have to pay death duties unlike the UK. There are
also big differences in the tax system here which can hit those on low
incomes or those trying to set up their own business very hard. In fact I
remember someone quoting figures something along the lines that France had
only 10% the number of business start-ups compared to the UK, with around
the same population!

Recently, a newspaper article stated that many English are returning to
England because they find the bureaucracy in France so tiresome. However,
it was written by a Briton living in France who says the majority learn to
cope with it and find the quality of life more than makes up for it.


I've always fancied starting up and running a garden centre or plant
nursery, but to attempt it here would be extremely difficult - not only do
the bureaucrats stand in the way of anything and everything, I would have to
pay more in taxes than I'd receive in income - at least for the first few
years while it became established! As though starting your own business
isn't hard enough - the French taxation system bleeds business start-ups
dry.

I think that's where a lot of the social services money comes from? Higher
taxation and social payments?

The wine is cheap though!

Despite the 'whinges' we love it here. French people are generally friendly
and good humoured, and the countryside is great. And of course - the houses
are also much cheaper than the UK :-) French people generally like new
properties and dislike older ones - they find a certain amusement in the
fact that us Brits move here and renovate their heritage at our cost - and
believe it or not they also tax us for the privilege - there is also an
extra tax to pay if you renovate an old property!

AIUI, the French rent a lot, too, especially in the cities. Owning
property, except in terms of farming, seems not to mean what it does here.
I know/knew a few French who rented apartments in e.g. Paris but had a
'maison secondaire' that they owned in the countryside.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/