No longer a "bobby's job"

We used to have a phrase (at least we northerners) to describe a simple, no stress employment - "a bobby's job". When we were children policemen were the ultimate symbol of authority; if a bobby told you to stop doing something you stopped - at least until he went off.
Changes in attitude in society and a respect by the police themselves for the rights of the public mean that being a guardian of the peace is no longer what it was.
Here in France the "flics" have long been held in an ambivalent point of view. We were advised long ago by a senior gendarme not to engage in arguments with policemen who had more powers than you think. They are not identified by name and only recently by number; they can sue you on a personal basis if you "insult the uniform" and the CRS is famously brutal. But they are there to protect society from crooks, sort out difficult personal conflicts, pick up the pieces after disturbances and riots and in recent years to guard against terrorist attacks.
So far in 2019 some 40 officers have committed suicide, this is more than usual, though agents always have a higher suicide rate than the population as a whole. No studies have been made as to why this is the case but possibly the unsocial hours, the stress of the job and family break up are more prevalent than in other professions.
It is pretty difficult for the police unions and the officers themselves to hear shouts of "go kill yourself" during Saturday's usual GJ demonstrations and to see in Caussade on Sunday a van with a large notice suggesting that those injured in the demonstrations were in some way compensated by police suicides.

Does it matter that Notre Dame burned?

pic Fabien Barrau/AFP

One of the most important buildings in France's heritage has been ravaged by fire and will cost hundreds of millions of euros to restore. Yet there have been some mixed reactions to the news of the damage to Notre Dame. Most French people seem to be shocked at the destruction caused in the 900 year old building; it is seen as the most iconic building in Paris, having lived through all the most important happenings there over the centuries. Many conservationists and historians have called on the government to commit to fully fund the work. But President Macron has called for international aid and private funds to contribute.
Notre Dame de Paris is the most visited site in the most visited tourist country in the world, so its international stature is well established. But inevitably some are questioning the value of spending so much on a church when there is so much social inequality. Some say that cancelling the 2024 Olympic games in Paris would release sufficient funds. It has even been suggested that as it is a symbol of the centuries of ecclesiastic oppression it should be demolished to make way for something "more modern". One art historian belittled the 100 million pledged by a wealthy family because it only represented "one 350th of their wealth".
Such points of view may appeal to some, but the importance of our countries' heritages should not be underestimated or devalued. We were outraged when the Taliban destroyed centuries old pre-Islamic carvings. Should we demolish the Coliseum in Rome because barbaric games were held there? What about the pyramids, symbols of despotic pharaohs? And even Auschwitz still stands to remind us that not everything in the past should be forgotten.
And we Brits recall how St Paul's cathedral was a symbol of our resistance to Luftwaffe bombing.
Let's cherish our heritage, but invest more on a regular basis to keep it safe from the ravages of time.

A message from Christchurch

Dear Val and all tagliners.

This may well be very incoherent but just want to thank you for your support.   This is so different from the horror of the earthquakes and all that followed that natural disaster, so much worse

So much happening thankfully NZ has responded with disgust etc.   WE are led by a Prime Minister and Mayor  who reflected the views of real NZers and hopefully survivors will realise how much they are part of NZ and valued for their contribution to NZ.    WE ARE TOGETHER .  I know there are Kiwis and Aussies who are part of the Tagline Community and I send them greetings.   KIA KAHA & AROHANUI    Much Love Ann

Val and Sally say

And the reaction of the real New Zealanders is heartwarming and inspirational. ❤️❤️❤️

We are all of one heart and mind on this one Ann

The tragic news from New Zealand

On March 3rd, barely two weeks ago, we received (and published in Taglines) a message from our friend Ann in Christchurch, New Zealand.
She told us that for the first time in 8 years, since the devastating earthquake, the city was in a position to house new refugees from Syria and other dangerous places. Yet today that welcoming attitude has been shattered by a group of killers whose only intention was to kill as many Muslims as possible. Imagine fleeing Syria, Afghanistan or Myanmar at great risk to life only to meet extremist terrorists in possibly the safest country in the world.
Taglines sends its support to Ann and her friends in Christchurch.

Fined for blowing the car horn

Many motorists "klaxon" to show support for demonstrations or striking workers but strictly it is illegal other than to avert danger. A couple caught in the Gilets jaunes blockage at Montauban were finally allowed through the barrage after being told to hoot for support. As they left they also made a "friendly" toot towards the gendarmes who were supervising the blockage.
It seems the policemen were not amused and eventually the couple received a fine of 22 euros for "abusive use" of a car horn.
The couple are outraged as they did not support the actions of the GJs and their gesture to the police was accompanied by a cheery wave. They intend to pay the fine in 1 centime coins.
The moral: be careful who you hoot at.

Big rise in anti-semitism last year

The Interior Ministry reported a rise in recorded acts of anti-Semitism of 74% in 2018. The acts included threats, thefts and in one case a murder. In Paris this weekend the portraits of Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor and major French and European politician, considered by many as one of the most important post-war contributors to French society, were defaced with swastikas.

The artist Christian Guemy removed the graffiti from his image

The artist who created the images cleaned them up himself and insisted that no matter how many times they were defaced he would restore them.
France 2 TV last night aired a documentary showing the battle in France in the 1930s for dominance by fascist sympathisers and left wing republicans. The importance of defeating this growing menace was graphically illustrated but ultimately led to the horrors of the war.

Heroines voted T&G personalities of the year 2018

Elizabeth, Isabelle, Magali, Sandra and Marylis: Pic DDM

Five women employed at the EHPAD (retirement home) at Moissac have been voted the Department's people of the year by readers of La Depeche du Midi. The women, who are all employed in different roles, three assistants, one housekeeper and one nurse, were taking a break when they noticed a car take a right turn, directly into the canal lateral. They responded quickly to calls for help, including calling the pompiers, and managed to pull an elderly couple from the car. Using their skills they were able to offer appropriate care to the victims.
Fortunately the couple who were heading for Toulouse were no worse for their ordeal, but a salutary warning, don't always trust your GPS, especially in the dark!

Who killed all the rabbits?

The village of Minihy-Treguier in Normandy has experienced the death of 62 rabbits over the last 9 months, but local villages have also suffered 60 losses. There is no sign of particular violence and the corpses are "lined up" outside the cages. Apparently even locked cages have been opened. Now the local gendarmes have published calls for information in local media and on-line.

Picture from gendarmerie Facebook page

Vets who have carried out autopsies are agreed that the rabbits are being killed by a dog and some locals agree that there are chasse dogs roaming the area. But more residents are convinced that it is human intervention and one person claims to have seen "a shadowy figure" shortly before finding his four rabbits dead - still warm.
The local newsagent says the mere mention of rabbits in a headline and all the copies of the paper are sold and the maire worries that a state of paranoia is building up in the area. Residents are locking doors and closing shutters, even locking their cars in the fear that the "serial killer" may progress from rabbits to larger prey.

Figeac station burned down

Station fire: pic France 3

Fire completely destroyed the railway station at Figeac during the night of Wednesday-Thursday.
The cause of the fire is unknown, though foul play is not suspected.
Trains from Toulouse will terminate at Capdenac and the service Figeac-Aurillac and Figeac-Brive are suspended at present.

Motor cyclist fined 19200 euros

An unnamed multi-recidivist motorbike rider who committed 120 infractions during 2017 was finally arrested by Tarn and Garonne gendarmes. His number plates were deliberately partly obscured and the biker was seen to make an obscene gesture to the camera as he passed. By comparing the many flashed images gendarmes were able to reconstitute the number plate and determine by the clothing he wore that it was the same person in each picture. In addition to the speeding incidents were added various other infractions bringing the total charges to 120. The rider denied the charges but the geo-localisation on his mobile phone showed that he was indeed in the place where the infractions happened. He was fined 19200 euros and banned for one year.

The river rose 7 metres in 6 hours

Floods in Trebes: photo Benjamin Mathieu/France Info

Readers will have been watching the dreadful news from the Aude where villages around Carcassonne were deluged during the night of Sunday. Torrential rain, equivalent they say of 4 months' normal rainfall, fell in just a few hours and caused the river Aude and tributaries to rise by unprecedented amounts in just a few hours. A total of 12 people lost their lives in the floods; roads were washed away; vehicles dumped metres away from where they were caught up in the flow; homes destroyed or badly damaged. Inevitably the rescue services were themselves inundated with trying to ensure all survivors were moved to safe accommodation.
A BBC weather forecast a few days ago, commenting on the Portugal hurricane damage, predicted that the tail of hurricane Leslie would sweep across northern Spain and into the Mediterranean where the warmer water would intensify the rainfall over the Balearics and southern France. But it seems that it was even more severe than predicted and many residents were unaware that such a deluge was in the offing.
One or two shocked evacuees were understandably concerned that no warning was given and that the pompiers were late reaching them - but in extraordinary circumstances we are sure the rescuers did all they could. Probably some of our local volunteers will be going down to lend a hand with clearing up the debris.
The pompiers are mostly volunteers who give up their time to train and meet all kinds of emergencies. That is why Mains Tendues 82, our local fund raising charity, is making a donation to the Laguepie caserne on Friday - a donation it is hoped they will spend on enjoying themselves, not just on a new piece of kit.
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Are you driving uninsured?

Steve Trinder from Assistance Le Cloup Location, who help with management of gites and other rented properties in the local area, has sent a "public service announcement" concerning the risks many UK citizens who live here full or part time and keep the UK plates on their cars, insured in the UK. There may be insurers who will provide cover for year round absence and it is possible that controle techniques will cover such vehicles. After reading Steve's warnings please let us have your experience.
"A good friend of mine, who works at the Association of British Insurers, tells me that there is shortly to be a crackdown. Forget Brexit, forget whether you're driving under a UK licence or a French one - it's about car insurance.
There are many, many Brits living out here who are still driving on UK registration plates. That's fine, as we know, if you're out here for a maximum of 90 days at a time. UK car insurance policies generally cover you for up to that period abroad, after which you are no longer covered.
But as we know, many of those cars spend their entire lives here, and so do their owners. Many others are here for six months, and back in the UK for six months.
An inconvenient truth it may be, but I'm sorry, these cars are being driven UNINSURED after those 90 days expire.
If you have an accident in France, the first thing your insurance company will ask you is "we need proof that your car has not been in France for longer than 90 days." If you cannot furnish a ferry/tunnel ticket which includes the transit of your car, then you are in deep, deep trouble. Not only will they not pay out on your claim and that of the other party, but you will also have committed a criminal offence here, which could lead to a huge fine or even a prison sentence for driving without insurance. Worse, if your accident (heaven forbid) led to the death or serious injury of somebody, then your fines, legal bills, compensation payments and an inevitable stay in a French prison will almost certainly bankrupt you. Car gone, house gone, life gone. And all because you didn't fancy changing your car plates and getting year-round insurance here.

Please, folks. If you are one of these people living here for more than three months at a time and who STILL has British plates on your car, you are almost certainly breaking the law. Not only that, you are putting other people's lives at risk. And worse, you are fully aware of what you are doing. Which is unforgivable. Get the car registered here, and get French insurance. There is no excuse for not doing this, it is not difficult.

Best Wishes,
Steve Trinder."

They should have kept in touch

Two elderly Montauban couples set off for a holiday in Blanes, Costa Brava, last weekend, in convoy of two cars. But one car disappeared after the last peage station heading into Spain. The first car headed on to Blanes, but were concerned when the second car did not arrive at the hotel they had booked. They contacted family in Montauban but no news was forthcoming, so the gendarmes were called in. Mobilisation of searches on both sides of the border including helicopters. Scrutiny of video camera footage on the motorways revealed nothing. No telephone activity; no credit card charges.
But eventually the "mossos", Catalonian police force, spotted the missing car in a hotel car park in Rosas, about 100 kms north of Blanes. No explanation of why the octogenarians changed their plans and they were left to continue their holiday, astonished that a simple misunderstanding could have caused such a fuss.
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Tarn church tower struck by lightning

 photo DDR Br.M 

The tower of the church in Saint-Amans-Soult in the south of Tarn was struck by lightning yesterday at about 11am in the powerful storms which swept the Mediterranean departments. The damage extended to six neighbouring houses as tiles and bricks rained down. Fortunately nobody was hurt, one octogenarian neighbour suggesting that the good lord had protected them.

Hunters hunted - by cows

Those of us who do not approve of the activities of the chasseurs who race about our lanes in pursuit of deer and sanglier always feel schadenfreude when accidents befall the hunters themselves. The fact that they shoot each other on a fairly regular basis is a warning to the rest of us posed by gun toting hunters and when the deer or wild boar turn the tables we afford ourselves a wry smile.
But surely the most embarrassing story this week was the news that two chasseurs had to be helicoptered from the mountains after being attacked by a cow. Described as "seriously shaken" the two men were flown to hospital in Tarbes by a gendarme helicopter. No news is forthcoming about the condition of the cow.
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Contraband cigarettes here..

"carotte" at metro station Barbes: screen capture

A Paris metro station well-known to be a place where sellers of contraband cigarettes can be found was embellished with a fake "carotte" as the famous tabac sign is known.
During the night of Friday/Saturday some unknown person attached the sign to the wall outside the station, to the amusement of passers-by and the anger of local "buralistes", as tobacconists are called.
In a time when addicts can apparently order cocaine or cannabis by text from local dealers in many big cities, putting up a sign seems a little old fashioned. However, the sale of counterfeit or contraband cigarettes is wide-spread in cities near the borders of countries where tobacco is cheaper and is leading to gang warfare on a scale reminiscent of other drug wars.

Tourists "forgotten" in Gouffre de Padirac

Photo Marc Salvet/MaxPPP

One of the regions major attractions is accused of sloppy safety procedures when on Sunday evening three Spanish tourists were overlooked when the underground grotto of the "gouffre de Padirac" was closed for the evening.
Enquiries by the Procureur suggest that the visitors were not to blame for their misadventure, but that procedures for ensuring all visitors had left the site were inadequate.
The grotto, first explored in 1889, has several kilometres of galleries and is one of the most popular sites for tourists in the Lot. The enquiries are proceeding.

Tragic mix-up with a prescription

A young Albi father complained of eye problems and was examined by an ophthalmologist, who said the problems were probably due to a childhood infection, and prescribed antibiotics and vitamins. But he mixed up the doses with serious consequences. The pharmacist simply dispensed the prescription without querying the doses. The patient, acting on this advice, followed the prescription, but complained to his GP that he was still having severe problems. The GP advised him to continue as prescribed. Eventually the patient was admitted to hospital and died.
All the professionals were subsequently investigated and the ophthalmologist and pharmacist will be charged with manslaughter by reason of neglect.
We have learned during recent illnesses to question treatments and prescriptions, including asking our very helpful chemist to confirm the use and dose of each medicine. Some doctors are not always keen to volunteer information, but will when pressed - it can save a life.
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Tarn firm condemned for fraud

We are all used to those phone calls telling us that there are government schemes (supported by our mairies) to help with insulation as part of plans to reduce global warming. Generally these marketing methods are to be avoided, but as such schemes do exist and may be worth following up. But the firm responsible for paying the subventions (usually around 1000  euros) refused to reimburse some hundreds of claimants because the firm carrying out the loft insulation was guilty of over-charging, falsifying documentation and email addresses. Ecogroupage carried out the work and the courts found that the Paris company Vos Travaux Eco was justified in withholding the payments as the Tarn contractor had acted fraudulently.
Most reputable firms know what is available and if you need improvements it may be best to approach local firms, especially with recommendations.
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A theft at Verfeil

Hi Val

I'm going back to the police tomorrow to report it, so I thought I'll let everyone I know in France about the break in just so everyone can be a bit vigilant should they still be in the area, or if you come across someone trying to sell a busted kango, drills, a UK Mac Allister Hedge Trimmer or a new Hotpoint washer dryer (10kg) which doesn't have the softner tray (they left that in the house!!), it's probably our stuff.

We live outside Verfeil.

Roberta

Val says

Thefts are so unusual here  but more care always needed at holiday time, 

Keep on the alert for these items

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