Is this what Britain has come to? The chap who keeps an eye on the crown jewels in the Tower of London lives in north-western France. Brittany, to be exact.
And why would Major General Keith Cima live in France? It starts with the basics: “less traffic, less crowding, affordable housing.” Then there is the matter of the schools.
Our younger children go to school there and learn as we did: facts, focus, lots of tests, plenty of homework. And if they do not do well enough, they repeat a year, which is a great incentive to work hard.
Yes. It seems almost surreal to imagine a school system like that. The French are so old-fashioned. And there’s more.
The medical system is superb, and operates off a mixed system of state provision, pay-as-you-use and modest insurance premiums. Appointments are on time, and the IT works. There appear to be no waiting lists; a consultant [specialist] gets his diary out and asks when the operation would be convenient. Even a casualty department on a Saturday night in a city is free-flowing (good, as my thumb had just lost a debate with a circular saw). My dentist apologetically presented me with a bill for £30 [$60] the other week for a capped tooth[.]
You read of more and more Brits moving to France. They don’t seem to be quite as frank about their reasons as the major general.
But it seems to be that things actually work in France. It must be the Cartesian rationalism. And we thought that the French were finished, suffering from terminal euro-sclerosis.
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