OT FFS More annoying green children

[Tim Streater]

The country is extremely regimented. A lot of people live in blocks of flats, with communal facilities for washing/drying clothes. You get allotted a day/time slot to do those things. If you try to use another slot, you'll be told off, and your neighbours will report you to the landlord, who may evict you if you persist. You'll likely then be on a blacklist for rentals. Same if you try to install a washing line on your flat's balcony and dry them outdoors. Prohibited.

And remember what Orson Wells said about the Swiss in The Third Man:

and see section 3.3.

When I lived there, it was noticeable that the grass was greener than in nearby France. Probably because they had gnomes out before dawn painting the blades of grass.

[Max Demian]

And the Swiss didn't even invent the cuckoo clock. That was in Bavaria.

[Brian Reay]

You obviously didn?t read my post.

(We have a German Cuckoo clock in the dining room. It seemed like a good idea at the time ;-) )

[Andrew]

France is 4 times the land mass of the UK.

I suspect the amount of rubbish is the same, but spread over a larger area.

[Andrew]

But it, and all those other places that you rave about either do not have the worlds flotsam and jetsom living cheek by jowel with everyone else, or more likely (like Paris) they are housed in huge, bleak, filthy, graffiti'd tower blocks well away from the nice twee touristy spots and routes that you visit.

Try getting off the beaten track and you will find plenty of places in mainland europe every bit as unpleasent as some parts of the UK are.

[Tim Streater]

Gosh, really? Who knew!

Ah Geneva, where the Swiss show their skills at turning 4-lane highways into 2-lane ones. And where, just as they'd gotten rid of the trams (except the 12 from IIRC Carouge to Moillesulaz), they dug all the effing roads up and planted a whole lot more. My mate tried asking the Cantonal Government why they'd done this. "We've done a study" was the entirety of the response, although no study was forthcoming.

That's how things work there. Another clue is that the Police Station in Place du Bourg-de-Four used to be labelled "Dept de Police et Justice". None of this nonsense, you see, of separating police from the judiciary.

[Max Demian]

They did something like this in Manchester. In 1980/81 they were digging up the old tramlines. Now trams are all the rage and cyclists have to learn not to get their wheels jammed in the tramlines again. They'll be bringing back trolley buses next.

[GB]

Trolley buses were the original reason buses came in bunches, as there was no overtaking.

[ARW]

If they did it properly it could be like a Scalextric.

[ARW]

I know. I went there a couple of weeks ago thanks to a suggestion from someone on this newsgroup on my trip to Wareham.

Just had my geographically challenged Mother tell me about Wareham and how she loves the place.....the clock tower, the sea, the piers etc.

Right county wrong town. Guess where she stopped?

[The Marquis Saint Evremonde]

Lyme Regis?

[Steve Walker]

TCR would be better - proper overtaking!

SteveW

[AlexK]

Problem with that line is that the population density in the big cities and the capital is very similar with France and the UK and that is where most of the visible rubbish comes from.

[AlexK]

Sure, but no visible rubbish here, and very little graffiti either.

But generally far less visible rubbish lying around.

[Cursitor Doom]

There's been a lot of visible AND invisible rubbish coming to the UK from France in recent years.

[Cursitor Doom]

Bognor?

[Brian Reay]

They don?t let the, to use your words, flotsam and jetsam into the nice areas or at least control them.

A few years back, in fact it would have been 2017, during one of our French trips, while my wife was shopping I found a pleasant place to sit in a little square to have a pipe. There were a few benches, the usual kind of thing. After a few minutes I was approached by a scruffy looking man who I worked out was asking for a light. I loaned him my lighter, he thanked me, shuffled off to one of the other benches. A few minutes later he was joined by two more scruffy types and they started drinking, I assume, beer from cans. They weren?t causing any trouble. They looked out of place- it was quite a smart area with expensive shops etc. - but they were quiet etc. Within minutes a two policemen arrived and spoke to them. One of the scuffs left without any fuss. The others seemed reluctant. I assume a radio was used because shortly a police van similar to a transit arrived and more police jumped out. The scuffs were thrown, yes thrown, in the back and driven off. The two officers looked around, gave a wave in the direction of myself and a couple on another bench, and left.

I mentioned this to someone later who is French and was told it isn?t unusual for ?undesirables? to simply by picked up and dumped in the middle of nowhere.

Can you imagine if that happened here? There?d be a case before the ECHR before you could say Strasbourg (nice place, BTW)

[Scott]

True, but it all contributes to the same general ambience. My recollection is that there was litter but this may vary seasonally and with variations in council budgets. I will look next time.

I was referring also to graffiti on and in the trains. I would be surprised if may countries tolerated whole carriages nearly covered by graffiti. It would certainly make me feel safer driving.

[Grumps]

Wow! You must've found som nice aires. Several (not all) that we've stopped at in the past for a piss break were absolutely disgusting, with my daughter wretching at the stench. That must be the tourists, 'cos the French would never piss all over the floor, defecate on the walls etc.

[bert]

Ours liked conkers