Booking rental property online.....a cautionary tale

A recent entry on one of the popular forums dealing with life in France tells a worrying story of a British couple who booked a French short-stay property online only to turn up and find the property already occupied by 'friends of the owner' - who is now unwilling to compensate them or return their 3000 euros paid. The booking was made via a well known holiday booking agency - also operating online - which has apparently so far refused to intervene in the case, on the grounds that the final booking details were made directly between the parties and they are not responsible.

In commenting on the incident, I reminded forum members of a case which occurred in Argels-sur-mer last year, when a non-existent property advertised online was booked by over 50 potential renters who had all paid in advance, and who all turned up on the same day to start their holiday, only to find that the property did not exist and that the street number advertised was entirely fictitious.

Not suprisingly the police and local tourist offices take this sort of incident very seriously, as it reflects badly on the reputation of the resort - and the holiday rental business in general.

The only safeguard I can suggest if you are booking a holiday rental in France is to use a local, reliable estate agency which has its office in the resort or nearby, and has the necessary credentials, such as membership of FNAIM, the estate agents' professional body. Being on-site they receive renters personally, accompany them to the property, check that everything is in order and remain on hand during your stay, just in case of any problems. They also have links to reliable tradesmen in case of emergencies such as a burst pipe or electrical failure.

Local tourist offices are very keen to protect the repuation of the area and may have lists of 'approved' rental properties that have been visited and approved, and if you experience problems during your stay, you should inform the tourist office.

Like all online purchases, holiday bookings via an online rental agency are subject to risks and the potential for fraud and property owners and potential renters should made all the checks they can before entrusting them with their money - and their annual holiday.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Macron elected French president

There was a palpable sigh of relief all over France last night, as Emmanuel Macron was finally elected President of France, with a convincing 66 per vent of cotes cast in the second round. Even though many remain sceptical of his plans to 'revive' France, in line with the policies outlined by his group En marche there us also a feeling that 'at least it's not her' - referring to the far right Marine le Pen who gave the country another first-round scare in a close vote, as she did with the election of Francois Hollande five years ago. Some commentators are now writing that her election would have been 'chaotic for France'.

Also worrying is the high level of voter abstentions, approaching 30% of the electorate, though many are questioning the wisdom of holding an election on a Sunday, in the middle of a three-day holiday weekend in May (today is a public holiday), where many have taken advantage of the fine weather (at last) and are away from home.

Also interesting at the time Britain is learning not only that Brexit is is going to be vastly more complicated and expensive than anyone dreamed, Macron's second emphasis is on reforming and strenghtening the European Union and it will be interesting to watch this happening alongside Brexit.

France will also have to come to terms with a whole collection of new faces in politics, as Macron's likely team of future ministers, many of them unkown to the wider public, take up their positions in government. France goes to the polls again in June to elect deputies to parliament, before settling down for the summer recess and the traditional European shutdown during July and August.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

France presidential elections - update

Further to my recent post about the ups and downs of the French presidential elections, the two main contenders - François Fillon, formerly Sarkozy's prime minister, and Marine le Pen, deader of the far right Front National, are facing further problems.

François Fillon is now the subject of formal investigation on a number of counts, including the payment of salaries to his wife and two children, with the appointment of a team of senior judges from the financial court. He is however continuing his pre-election campaign until further notice. His part - Les Républicains - appear not to have a Plan-B in the event that formal charges are made against their candidate.

Marine Le Pen meanwhile is refusing to attend a police investigation when a summons was issued last week, pleading parliamentary immunity (as a member of the European Parliament) which protects deputies while in office. She is continuing with her campaign meanwhile.

Sadly the above two cases, potentially involving election to the the highest office in the land, arrive at a time when a number of police officers are under investigate for alleged rape of a (black) social worker, provoking demonstrations and riots nightly in Paris and elseshere, with prime time television coverage. The Government has also chosen this moment to launch a series of television advertisements lauding the virtures of the Republic.........

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

France still a nation of meat eaters.....

I wrote recently about about the growing organic (bio) movement in France and that there were encouraging signs that consumption of meat in France was showing a slight decline, which started several decades ago, after the end of the war and the post-war boom years up to 1980.

Sadly - for vegetarians like me at least - latest figures show that the average consumption per head is now 86 kilograms annually and that 3 million animals per day (or 1 billion annually) are slaughtered in French abattoirs in order to keep pace with this demand.

These figures and other revelations - for example, that only 20% of abattoirs inspected by the authorities conformed to current regulations - are revealed in a French TV programme next Tuesday 28 March, if you have the stamina to watch it.

'Le Monde en Face' series, Channel 5, Tuesday 29 March 2017, 20.50, followed by a discussion at 22.00.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Who might be the new French President - a brief guide

France is in the throes of an election campaign which kicked off last autumnn and is due to last another three months until voting in May. Who will replace François Hollande after five years as President is far from clear at this time.

There have as usual been numerous opinion polls and several pre-selection processes but the picture is far from clear though there are four principal candidates in the running. They are Marine le Pen (Front National) who has an outright lead (24% currently) over the others but is under something of a cloud as a result of problems with the European Parliament - as has her father and founder of the FN - over allegedly illegal  payments for parliamentary assistants who were not resident in Brussels according to the rules. Yesterday the police raided the FN's French offices on behalf of the European Commission. Both MEPs have denied any breach of the rules.

The rest of the field is made up of a curiously mixed bunch - including François Fillon, who survived for five years as former president Sarkozy's Prime minister. He is the preferred candidate of the right wing of the the Republican party but also under a cloud regarding alleged 'salary' payments to his wife Penelope and two of his children, paid out of public funds, amid claims that their jobs as 'parliamentary assistants' were fictitious. The sums involved approach 1 million euros going back over many years and investigations are continuing, with the prospect of a prosecution not ruled out. Les Républicains are sticking by their man - for the time being, with the election just weeks away. Compared with  the other candidates he is also the one with the most experience at parliamentary and ministerial level

The two other contenders are newcomers Emanuel Macron and Benoit Hamon. Macron was a former advisor to François Hollande and worked at the Elysée Palace, before transfering to parliament as Minister of Economics, and then resigning and setting up his own party known as En marche ('on the move'). He has been campaigning for several months throughout France and accasionally abroad and is more or less on the right wing,  and popular with young and older voters alike. Having formed his own party may complicate his progress

Benoit Hamon, an ecologist and to the left of the socialist party, was (briefly) Education Minister under François Hollande and is the favourite choice of young voters. His comparative youth and lack of practical experience in government might be seen as a handicaps to being elected.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

France - land of the bureaucrats? Not true!

There are many myths about France and among them that the country is over-run by fonctionnaires (public officials employed by the State). However a more serious analysis of the figures shows that France falls somewhere in the middle range compared with the rest of Europe - and has roughly the same number state employees as Great Britain for much the same size population.

A simple analysis shows that some 2.4 million are employed by central government - bearing in mind they have to cope with 360 different taxes, 410,000 norms and regulations, or 103 diffrent types of social aid*. Nearly two million are employed by local authorities at regional and local level (there are nearly 37,000 communes); and just over 1 million work in hospitals and the public health sector.

What do they get in return? I wrote recently about the daily sweeping and washing down of streets in the town centre where I live and I can testify to the efficiency of health services - same-day appointments with ones GP or within days with specialist services such as a blood test, X-ray or appointment with a specialist at the local hospital.......with strict adherence to appointment times.

The system however does throw up some anomalies however, such as delays in civil and some criminal courts. Even in the case of former President Sarkozy: only now is he being prosecuted (he is appealing) for alleged offenses regarding the funding of his election campaign over a decade ago. Even more curious that his former Prime Minister François Fillon is calling for a reduction of 500,000 fonctionnaires as part of his current election campaign (somewhat tarnished by allegations about sums paid to his wife as his 'parliamentaty assistant'.........).

Although they enjoy a certain job security and comparatively generous pension arrangements, compared with Britain for example, research** shows that at the lower and middle grades, the salaries of  fonctionnaires are more or less on a par with those in the private sector; while at the senior level they tend to lag behind.

Finally Britain leads in Europe with the privatisation of many public services, which the same research admits can aid the introduction of frehs talent and new ideas but requires close supervision by (established) fonctionnaires. That said, the French had recourse to 'outside' private sources for 30% of its functions in 2015 (compared to Britain's +50 per cent).

* 'On va dans le mur'  by Agnès Verdier-Molinié, Albin Michel, 2015
** 'Alternatives Economiques'  February 2017, pp 64-72

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Aiding refugees and migrants - at your peril!

France seems to have an ambivalent attitude towards migrants and refugees who arrive in France, often after a hazardous journey from their home country, and take advantage of the free movement within the European Union thanks to the Schengen agreement on open  borders. Many as we all know know face a block when they reach the French channel ports and try to travel to Britain,

The result has been the accumulation of up to 10,000 refugees - including many young children and teenagers - in huge makeshift camps, which were finally cleared towards the end of last year and the occupants dispersed to 'reception centres' all over France. Not all them agreed with this policy and set up their own camps in central Paris and elsewhere, only to be dispersed again by the authorities. Reports indicate that many have also driffted back to Calais and there is increasing concern for large numbers of unaccopanied minors and young adults, regarded as specially at risk. There is a sad irony in all of this, as many wish to join their families already settled in Britain but face growing intransigence by officials and prejudice from many individuals, as the pro-Brexit vote shows.

Sterling work has been done by the acknowledged helpinng organisations such as the international Red Cross, buit private individuals have been prosecuted for 'aiding and abetting a person illegally living in France' despite another French law which also prosecutes for 'non-assistance to persons in danger' - such as ignoring a person injured in the street or driving away after a traffic accident.

Some of the individuals accused of  aiding and abetting refugees found themselves prosecuted for simple gestures such as charging mobile phones or providing temporary accomodation or food. Fortunately, such help can be provided by joining one of the recognised charity organisations but many individuals have continued to 'do their own thing' and face the verdict of the French courts and organisatons (established or hastily formed) have found themselves in difficulty. A group of jurists and some 250 voluntary organisations have banded together with two old established French campaigning organisations Gisti and Cimade and to press for changes in the law.

Web addresses: gisti.org; lacimade.org

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Brexit - the triumph of misinformation?

The slow and still uncertain progress of the United Kingdom towards a final severance from the rest of Europe seems to me little more than a victory for misinformation - or, more charitably, widepress ignorance about how the European Community actually operates.

When I read stories of 'Brussels bureaucrats' dictating what British citizens should or should not do, it is clear that the writer/speaker is either disguising the truth or is woefully ignorant of the process of decisions that eventually become European law. There is in fact a complex procedue of negotiation at many different levels, including summit meetings of Heads of Government (presidents or prime ministers of Member States), government ministers (say, defense or finance), European commissioners (nominated by Member States), the European Parliament of MEPs democratically elected by each Member State, the ESC (Economic and Social Committee, a group of specialists elected by Member States), the Committee of theRegions - and finally the European Commission itself, a body of bureaucrats drawn from the Member States, and responsible for initiating legislation and finally working out the details for implementation in each Member State (once debated and finally adopted by that State).

One can even add the role of lobbyists in all this - yes, there are hundreds of them representing every shade shade of opinion, from bankers to charities, and registered and published in a directory accessible to all.

There is no excuse for reputable journalists to not know how the process works. For the 'general public' they tend to believe what they read, even when they are being misinformed.

Which brings us to the question of Britain's trade with the rest of the world and the exciting new future promised by PM Theresa May. Currently Britain exports some 44% of its goods and services to other European Members - worth about £220 billion (out of a total £510 billion exports) - and it is this huge market that she seems to think Britain can throw away - and find exciting new markets elsewhere - such as Turkey! The top supplier to this progressive country of 80 million citizens  is the USA with a modest $11.88 billion........Britain does even appear among the top ten suppliers.

I shall end with a quote from the French monthly journal Alternatives Economiques* :
'Europe is already very open-minded about trade with the rest of the world and discussions about commerical agreements with the United States (Tafta) and Canada (Ceta) have already shown that the gains in trade are small. And who can believe that the British on their own can negotiate a better deal with China than the European Union acting together? '

* Christian Chavgneux, p35, February 2017.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Barcelona trying to control tourist numbers

According to a report in today's Guardian* newspaper, my near neighbour Barcelona, just over the border from where I live, is suffering from a massive influx of tourists - 32 millions annually compared with a resident population of just 1.2 citizens.

Many are classed as day-trippers but for those staying longer (some 8 million estimated) the city offers 75,000 hotel beds, some 50,000 registered holiday apartments and an estimated 50,000 ones.

Action is needed according to a newly-formed group SOS Barcelona, a combination of some 40 resident and community associations, who are protesting about increasing property prices for (would-be) residents and poor wages paid for thouse working in the tourist sector.

They are opposed by the hoteliers association who argue that more temporary accommodation is in fact needed for longer stay visitors who contribute substantially more to the local economy than the day-trippers. Their views seem to coincide with popular public opinion which in a survey last year conclude that Barcelona's biggest problem was unemployment and not the effects of tourism.

* My acknowledgements to Stephen Burgen, The Guardian, Friday 27 January 2017.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Clean streets and empty rubbish bins....

Reading the British newspapers about the propsoals by some local councils to empty domestic rubbish bins every four weeks only, I am happy to describe the situation in France - where bins are emptied DAILY in most areas and streets in city centres washed down every morning - sometimes more than once per day!

Where I live is a bit of a tourist town with a historic centre and in the summer months when I sleep with the windows open, my morning 'alarm clock' is the sound the mechanical sweeper/washer passing along the alleyway where I live, usually at 6.00 o'clock in the morning. The many cafés and restaurants that line the streets and have tables and chairs outside on the pavement and know the drill: everything is stacked and moved indoors to allow the sweeper to do its job. The result is immaculate pavements and clean alleyways (mine is pedestrians only) all year round.

Much the same with the bins. Emptied if you need to put them out every days or as I do, you can use the large public containers at the end of the alleyway which are emptied once or twice daily. There is even a special free service to arrange the collection of large objects (old furniture, mattresses etc) which are put out the night before and picked up early morning, by appointment. The homeless charity Emmaus will also pick up anything that can be salvaged or re-cycled.

My domestic rates are not exorbitant, in fact much lower than I was used to paying in central London.

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr 

Homeless in France.....

An two-hour documentrary in the Channel M6 series 'Zone Interdete' managed to throw some light on the problems facing homeless families in France - the figre of 4 million was quoted but no further explanation offered.

The choice of people whose experiences were featured was intresting - two of the subjects featured had strong family connections, another was coming out of a separation, and a fourth - described as 'bourgeois', a young man in his early twenties with a university degree and sleeping outdoors in a remote forest under a flimsy canvas an a friends of number three, but whose history was briefly covered. The fifth personality was a youngish country dweller who had experienced problems when his business collapsed, but owned some farm land which he converted - possibly illegally - as a campsite for homeless people. Using a charitable trust as the mechanism, he had single handedly created a tight-knight community that was accepted by the neighbours.

The situation of the first two was fairly similar. The first couple (and their school-age daughter) spent their time travelling round France in a (fairly) luxurious camper-van, made available to them by the husband's parents whom they appeared to visit fairly regularly. Clearly the parents were reasonably well off, their home seemed large and well equipped, but there was no talk of the trio being accomadated there fulltime/ they drove aff after one visit to continue their tour of France, picking up low-paid temporary farm work where they could.  

The second case was a solo father struggling to bring up two young children in an 'apartment' created out of a basement utility area, that was clearly illegal and subject to flooding, and owned by a couple of unsympathetic landlords. Towards the end of the documentary it was slowly revealed that the father had a (large) family abroad - I think it was Morocco - to where he finally sent the children whome he joined later on. The final pictures were of the three of them on a sunny beach 'back home'.

What intrigued me most was the relationship between the son/daughter in difficulties and the parents/family, and how far the latter were prepared to go to help. There appeared to be an element of 'thus far but no further' (loan of the camper van) and not a lot of sympathy as the son's business had collapsed with six-figure debts, which probably caused distress to a number of other small businesses owed money by the collapsed business. In the second case, one wondered whe the single father had waited so long, dreaming of better housing which realisically was never going to be available, before appealing to what he admitted was his well-off foreign family.

Clearly the worst case situation if you are homeless is to be abandonned by your family and these cases presented a sort off half acceptance of the son or daughter (temporarily) in difficulties. Strange attitudes I feel when in later life the parents may well be calling on their sons and daughters to help them when they get older and are in need of care.....

Posted by peterdanton@orange.fr

Home sellers in Paris - 40% are retired!

According to figures released by Notaires de Frances and reported in Le Figaro today, an analysis of actual property sellers shows that 60% describe themselves as 'executives' and some 40% as retired (one-third of them being over the age of 60).

Neither figure is surpising, given the average per-square-metre price of 8240 euros in the central districts, and that older owners - the post-war baby-boomer generation and the beneficiaries of stable employment up to the 1980s - have been watching their asset grow and are now cashing-in, and either downsizing and/or moving south to the sun. Regions such as Languedoc-Roussillon on the Mediterranean coast are among the fastest growing in France, and property prices still well below those of Province-Cote d'Azur.

Note also that currently only one-third of the population in Central Paris own their principal or main home, the remaining two-thirds being obliged to rent.......

France - Holiday rental fraud

Two serious cases of fraud involving holiday rentals have been reported in the local press, near the popular resort of Argelès-sur-mer on the Mediterranean coast, south of Perpignan.

The first involved a woman 'owner' who advertised a studio to let giving a false address - in a street where the highet number was 360 she gave an address at number 390. Advertising was placed on popular sites like 'leboncoin' with illustrations etc showing the property. A substantial deposit was requested 'in order to secure the property' but when holidaymakers arrived they found that no such apartmetn existed. Calls to the owner's mobile phone reached a recorded message until finally declared 'full' by the system. Visitors reporting to the local Tourist Office found they were among fifty or so others filing a complaint and with the police.

The second case involves deposits - estimated at 40 000 euros - collected on another non-existent property, again involving a private 'owner' using the popular media and the internet to advertise.

Property rental fraud of this kind is not new and prospective holiday renters should take all necessary precautions before parting with their money. Using a reliable local estate agency - member of FNAIM or SNPI - may cost a little more but offers a guarantee of security and that the renal property has been visted and checked that it reaches a required standard.

France's retirement boom may not be enough to create jobs

French politicians looking ahead over the next decade or so have for a long time assumed that the retirement boom - resulting from the high birth rates in the decades after the war - will be the chief answeer to the country's high unemployment. As an estimated 10 million French give up work and enter retirement, their places will have to be filled - so the argument goes.

A recent report* however has taken a more cautious view and thrown into doubt the idea that the retirement boom alone will solve France's high unemployment. The report offers three possible scenarios, cautious, moderate and optimistic and in the worst-case version unemployment in 2022 could be as high as 9.7% (with just over 1 million jobs created); the 'central version' suggests the creation of some 1.8 million new jobs and an unemployment rate of 7.9%; while the most optimistic version talks of 2.1 million new jobs and unemployment at 6.7%.

What are the reasons for this? The analysts suggest that inevitably the demand for certain types of workers are likely to decline, citing in particular industrial and manufacturing jobs, work in agriculture and the lowest category (C) of employees in the public sector. They also suggest that among the self-employed and owners of the smallest businesses (cafés, restaurants, small shops etc) when the owner retires, the business tends to close and disappear from view.

The only sector likely to recruit in large numbers is that of 'home helps' but the researchers note that this type of work is regarded as unattractive and low-paid and may even fail to attract the unemployed. Generally unskilled and medium-skilled jobs requring few specialist qualifications - sales assistants, drivers, cleaners - will decline due to streamlining and automation.

Among the remedies being discussed are shorter working hours (!) and the researchers note that the introduction of the 35 hour working week in France generated over 2 million jobs between 1998 and 2001.

* 'France Stratégie" as reported in "Alternatives Economiques" no. 347 June 2015.  

France has ten times more airports than Germany!

An astonishing statistic, but France has 160 passenger airports while Germanay manages with just 17. The bad news is that only 10% of the French airports are judged to be viable economically, with the remaider supported by subsidies - from the Region, chambers of commerce etc - to the tune of some 100 million euros each year.The Normandy region alone boast a dozn airports.

During an investigation by France's Channel 2 last night, the example of Dole (Jura) was highlighted. It somehos survives as a departure point for Ryanair flights to Morocco, but with low cost tickets still susidised - each customer paying 49 euros and the Region a further 23 euros on each ticket. Dole is located just 50 kms (half an hour) from Dijon which runs just 10 per cent of the flights it predicted after a 25 million euro investment.Even an idle airport can cost over one million euros annually to staff, service and maintain without a single flight taking off.

How did this situation arise? Last night's programme argued that many Regional governments mistakenly argue that a local airport brings further investment, people and jobs, but opponents argue that more often it creates a further tax burden for local residents. Competition from fast TGV links and a good road network can also reduce airport traffic, as can decisions by low-cost operators such as Ryanair and Hop! as to where they choose to base a service.

Spain's recovery ahead of France

Regarded - along with Greece, Italy, Portugal and Ireland - as one of the 'sick men' of Europe, Spain has now emerged from the crisis of the last five years, following a period of schock treatment, according to a report in the French business journal Capital (April 2015), compared with France. According to four main indicators highlighted in the report, Spain now beats France in terms of reduced labour coasts, which in turn has led to an increase in exports (while those from France are down); increased (foreign) investment - up by 4.7% compared with France's meagre 0.6%; and increased consumption - up 2.7% compared with just 1% in France.

The reasons for the Spanish success compared with France include the insistence of the government on a series of measures to cut spending - including raising the retirement age from 65 to 67 (while for most it remains at age 60 in France with many occupations alowing even earlier retirement from work); cutting public sector salaries; reducing public sector jobs by 400 000 by not replacing those retiring (talked about in France but not really implemented), and reducing expenditure in several areas including education, with a huge rise in university fees (as in Britain), and trimming hospital budgets.

Along with Ireland, Spain has taken drastic action which is now beginning to pay off and it will be interesting to see that happens to Greece in particular under the recently elected populist government, while France contues to tinker around the edges with measures such as the loi Macron, which recent polls confirm that the vast majority of French do not understand, other than the law allowing slightly increased Sunday opening of retail outlets.

French local elections - 50% fail to vote

France has just gone through the second round of regional elections and the only surprise after the defeat of the socialists and rise of the (far) right is the extremely low turnout among the electorate. There are a number of reasons for this, in my view including the following;

- Feelings of political/election fatigue, with too frequent elections (European, national, regional, local....) resulting in some sort of election every year
- People are weary of non-stop television coverage, political analysis, opinion polls and predictions, and both major parties already campaigning now for the next presidential elections
- No clear statements of policies and solutions for France's 'problems', with politicians more ready to attack each other than offer a credible alternative
- No local contact between politicans and their constituencies - few know who is their MEP and in the latest elections few recognised the bulk of candidates
- Too many tiers of government - local, regional etc - and few understand the various divisions of power - regional, departmental, local etc
- Other than knowing who is their local Mayor people do not know their elected representatives
- At the very lowest elevel, too many 'mairies' - in my home town of Perpignan (120 000 pop;) there is a 'mairie' for my district about 200 yards from the town 'mairie' which is virtually next door to the departmental HQ.....
- Each outlying village, many of which are virtually suburbs of the nearby, has its own 'mairie'....

This list is not exhaustive!

Paris offices become luxury/mixed apartments

Like many other European cities, Paris is suffering from a surplus of office space, much of it created to fulfill a demand which has since reduced. A spectacular example is the 15 storey block formerly occupied by scientific laboratoriesand offices in Courbvoie on the outskirts of Paris and close to La Défense.

The huge complex has been converted into 182 apartments (some selling at an average 8000 euros per square metre), 46 studios designed as lower cost student accommodation, and 99 units designed for short-term letting and professional use. The complex also includes a supermarket and car parking, and services such as a concierge, fitness centre and 'guest rooms' that enable owners to accommodate short stay visitors such as family and friends.

The Paris/Ile de France area is estimated to have some 4 million square metres of empty office space and the Mairie de Paris is planning to convert some 200 000 square metres into housing, during the next six years. 

Decline of the out-of-town shopping centre?

They say that a trend which starts in America will eventually follow in Europe. And so it  was with out-of-town shopping centres - known as malls in America - and their current decline. The statistics for mall closures in America are still sketchy but most agree that while the percentage has not yet reached double figures, the trend is clear and accelerating. Worst hit are the oldest, the largest and those furthest from the nearest town.

Among the reasons for this decline are the growth of online shopping, particularly where the famous brands found within the malls, have themselves entered the online sector. Why drive when you can shop at home? The scarcity and consequent high costs of building land are also cited, along with climate change where heavy snow can make access difficult for several weeks of the year. Many people are also turning their back on the car and among cities voted as among the best places to live are those where it is possible to move around on foot or by bicycle - to work, to shop, to enjoy ones leisure.

France is still at the expansion stage but there are already signs that this may be slowing down or halting, partly due to recession, but also for the reasons noted above. France has been Europe's largest creator of 'centres commeriaux' which are a feature of most suburbs - and the statistics are impressive:

- estimated number of shopping centre is 750, featuring over 33 thousand indiviual shops
- the amount of land occupied has been estimated at 17 million square metres
- total annual visits by shoppers over 3.2 billion
- annual turnover estimated at 118 billion euros
- 420 000 people are employed (25% of the total retail sector) with an estimated 15 000 new jobs each year
- it takes from 5 to 7 years before a commercial centre becomes viable (before it was morely to be 3 to 5 years)

Among the reasons cited for their success are the appeal of one-stop shopping, based around a flagship brand (such as a well known hypermarket) and a concentration of all the best-known retail chains. Easy access and parking are also appreciated by users.

For the retailers the attractions include potentially lower rents compared with the town centre and being alongside their well known neighbours.

Factors which may (as in America) lead to their decline include online shopping, traffic congestion, lack of public transport for non-car drivers (bearing in mind Europe's aging population) and the overwhelming size of some centres and individual hypermarkets.

There are also concerns about the corresponding decline in town centres which are seen as dying through lack of convenient shops and services. City councils  are reacting by lowering rates and taxes, improving public transport and parking, and creating more pedestrian areas. Some retailers have reacted by opening smaller in-town outlets, including Monoprix and Carrefour.

A final heartening trend from America is the recyling of some out-of-town malls, including schools, universities,  hospitals and medical centres, and sports and leisure complexes.

Social housing and creating ghettoes......

French socialist prime minister Manuel Valls has called for the creation of more 'social housing' in wealthy areas of cities such as Paris, but critics argue that the plan would only create more 'ghettoes' and further encourage the separation of rich and poor. As one centre right mayor put it "You cannot simply force people to live together and hope to create a community".

Following the events of January 2014, Valls has spoken of 'social apartheid' while many argue that creating social housing is counter-productive as it results in huge segregated estates in parts of cities where no-one wants to live (see my earlier post above about Carcassonne) and in reality causes the divisions about which Valls is complaining.

According to a law dating back to 1980, French mayors are obliged to provide social housing as a proportion of all new dwellings but many fail to reach their target due to the high cost of building land and construction. Meanwhile as shown in the case of Carcassonne many subsidised apartments (14% of the housing stock) lie empty for want of tenants.