Whoever drives through the South of France, is increasingly surprised by the sudden crossing of a pedestrian. This seemingly exhausted life from the sidewalk seems to become a new sport: people young or old, do not even look left or right when a car arrives, but simply cross over as if protected by an invisible airbag. The reality is that they are also protected, but by the French state and the new Pedestrian Law.
The old Pedestrian Act dates back to the time of Napoleon, in which a pedestrian could easily be knocked over by a shit cart or horse. In recent decades, however, it has become increasingly busier on the road and motorists are busier looking at their smartphone instead of paying attention to who is walking in the street. Something had to be done. After many ‘of the sock driven’ incidents, the new Act is now so strong that a motorist who does not stop in time for a pedestrian gets a fine of 135 euros and on the spot, his driver’s license can be lost. Now you know this, be aware if you are in a hurry.
Who is in any case no longer in a hurry is the 68-year-old Wojciech Janowski, the former ambassador of Poland. Do you remember the story of Hélène Pastor from Monaco? This richest woman from Monaco was murdered in cold blood on the street in Nice at the age of 77 while she wanted to visit her sick son in Nice. During the trial, the ex-son-in-law declared sobbing that he had ordered the murder of his mother-in-law. The reason was revenge because “it was an awful person who made his wife’s life miserable.” Not everyone is always happy with his mother-in-law and there are so many mother-in-law jokes for good reason, but ordering to kill your mother-in-law also went the French Court a little too far. Wojciech has therefore been given life and that means in France that you are no longer released until your death.
Fortunately, death is sometimes very beautiful, as in a song like Charles Aznavour. This most popular migrant from France sang all the stars together and kept performing. After his last tour of Japan, the 94-year-old Charles arrived at his home in France, ate a sandwich, drank a glass of wine, took a shower, put on a clean pajama and then went peacefully in his sleep to heaven. Who would not sign for such a beautiful life and then quietly cross over to ‘the other side’ while the clouds stop in front of you? After an impressive funeral ceremony, France has another National hero and we dream away for a moment at his sweet-voiced voice.
Unfortunately, we are soon awakened by reality; the famous beach of Ramatuelle is covered with oil. A collision between two small oil tankers caused so much oil leakage that the beach is now pitch-black. The beautiful beach where Brigitte Bardot posed for 1956 classic ‘And God created woman’ is closed to an indefinite period. It is expected that in the spring all beaches and bays are crystal clear again.
The strategy of the SNCF, the French National railway is also crystal clear, which suffers a lot from cumbersome workers. After the plan for unmanned trains, the ticket sales are now being removed via the counter in stations: ‘If you complain, better go home, the machine can sell tickets without you.’ And so the stations Tende, Sospel, La Trinité, Menton, Villefranche-Sur-Mer and Carnolès are now fully automated and the number of strikes will hopefully be reduced. Unless there is a power outage of course, but you can always take a black ride or walk.
Whoever takes a walk in the sun does not have to look any further when you cross, the new law will take care of that. But the sun remains dangerous. Now the French state cannot reduce the sun, but they can prevent you from going to the tanning center. The National French Health S, therefore, closes the conveyor belt tanning centers because they are a proven place to accelerate skin cancer. Anyone who wants to keep a brown head in winter is better off going skiing for a day.
From 1 December the slopes will open again and in the meantime, the Americans and Chinese will keep coming to the Côte d’Azur in ever larger numbers. Because of the favorable dollar versus the euro, it is interesting for Americans to buy a property here. And the Chinese will soon be welcomed in their own language. Even in Sophia Antipolis, the southern French Silicon Valley where you have almost no GSM reception but this aside, a new foundation has been set up with the name ‘Ink in China’. You can bring your three-year-old toddler here for Chinese lessons. It is not a strict school with a diploma but a club where the Chinese language is learned in a playful way. It seems that you can learn Chinese very quickly and easily at the age of three. @ #!%
We prefer to get Chinese with steamed dim sum but watch with admiration parents who steam their offspring ready for the future.
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