Was there a couple of weeks ago & thought the same. But then so were the small towns & villages in Switzerland & Austria, less so in Germany but hardly at all in northern Italy. Is it the weather or economics ?
I went to France and it was shut!
- Thread starter bladerunner
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Was there a couple of weeks ago & thought the same. But then so were the small towns & villages in Switzerland & Austria, less so in Germany but hardly at all in northern Italy. Is it the weather or economics ?
Noticed the same in a lot of the villages in the Eifel too - houses shuttered during the week, and a lot at the weekend too. Not derelict villages though - just appeared to be all holiday-houses.
See the same in Brittany (and probably a lot of France) - Perhaps a couple of shops, tabac in the old centre, and a lot of shuttered newer houses on the outskirts.
Al
Poshtosser
Registered user
France is shut
They are suffering from an employment issue in the rural villages. At one time most of the people would have been employed in agriculture but with improvements in technology and farm machinery there is no longer the work so the youth have moved to the the major cities to look for jobs. It's rather sad really as those rural villages will just die out unless of course us Brits buy up second homes!
They are suffering from an employment issue in the rural villages. At one time most of the people would have been employed in agriculture but with improvements in technology and farm machinery there is no longer the work so the youth have moved to the the major cities to look for jobs. It's rather sad really as those rural villages will just die out unless of course us Brits buy up second homes!
The villages still die - with British second homes. I think it is a big challenge to find a village in which to buy - which you can reasonably expect to stay above "critical mass".
Al
The cheaper option in the good old UK with some great riding going west from here!
http://www.chateau-impney.com/
bladerunner
Registered user
And yet France's GDP per head of population is still better than the UK's - what does that say about the Brit worker?France is either shut or on strike
There are a number of things going on here; French villages seems empty, partly because of the shutters and partly because the village populations tend to be elderly and don't go gallivanting about in the streets.
Of course, some of those village houses are empty, its hard to renovate and insulate them to modern standards. If you look, you'll often see a ring of new build houses outside the centre of the village on new 'lotissments'. Unlike villages in the UK, French villages go out of their way to attract new residents and businesses.
You may also find that French businesses organise themselves for their local customers rather than for the occasional passing motorcyclist.
Another observation contrasting 'then' and 'now'...
Feckin' speed bumps, and Kebab shops, in many villages.
France has simply changed, like everywhere has.
No reason it should be any different, I guess.
Feckin' speed bumps, and Kebab shops, in many villages.
France has simply changed, like everywhere has.
No reason it should be any different, I guess.
France is still a great place to tour
Its still beautiful, the sense of civic pride away from the min towns is so obvious, they understand biking and move over and if you are relaxed like them its an exceptional place to spend a week touring. Sundays are about family and relaxing so stock up on Saturday, beer is cheap and the wine even better - i could go on but having ridden just under 8,000 miles in the last month through Sweden, Norway and Finland and then down through Denmark and Germany France is still one of the best and cheapest European neighbors - I am moving onto Italy next and I know that will be a contrast again.
Its still beautiful, the sense of civic pride away from the min towns is so obvious, they understand biking and move over and if you are relaxed like them its an exceptional place to spend a week touring. Sundays are about family and relaxing so stock up on Saturday, beer is cheap and the wine even better - i could go on but having ridden just under 8,000 miles in the last month through Sweden, Norway and Finland and then down through Denmark and Germany France is still one of the best and cheapest European neighbors - I am moving onto Italy next and I know that will be a contrast again.
Poshtosser
Registered user
France has changed
Having toured France on and off for over 30 years on both bikes and cars the saddest loss to me is that the quality of food has nose dived. Every village used to have a couple of restaurants run by locals who cooked wonderful limited choice menus for next to nothing and to better this the bigger restaurants had to offer something even tastier. This has now disappeared as a concept and by and large the restaurant scene is dominated by fast food outlets and restaurant chains. The art of home cooking is a dying skill. I really think the UK has a higher standard of restauarant food now than France and if you'd said that 30 years ago people would have rolled aroound laughing.
The still have great roads though their traffic police are total wankers.
Having toured France on and off for over 30 years on both bikes and cars the saddest loss to me is that the quality of food has nose dived. Every village used to have a couple of restaurants run by locals who cooked wonderful limited choice menus for next to nothing and to better this the bigger restaurants had to offer something even tastier. This has now disappeared as a concept and by and large the restaurant scene is dominated by fast food outlets and restaurant chains. The art of home cooking is a dying skill. I really think the UK has a higher standard of restauarant food now than France and if you'd said that 30 years ago people would have rolled aroound laughing.
The still have great roads though their traffic police are total wankers.
In Gerardmer (Alsace)
There are :
Boulangeries
Patisseries
Creperies
and a.........
Kebaberie
Al
I can't argue with your perception on this, but when the elderly shuffle off .......... what is left in these villages?
One thing I have noticed in various regions of France - is that each small town/village is well served with pharmacies. Is that an indicator of the age of the residents or a simple social requirement?
Al
It is the same in Germany. We live in a town of about 35,000 (I would guess), yet we have 6 pharmacies in the main street. We also have 5 'eiscafes' (ice cream cafes), which reflects the german passion for ice cream!
We've been going to France for 20 years now and we still find the little family resturants, every village still has a bolangerie/butcherie etc.. old people still play boules under the shade of the manicured plane trees 
We do, however, stay away from the coast, the Loire and the Dordogne
Off there next week - can't wait.
We do, however, stay away from the coast, the Loire and the Dordogne
Off there next week - can't wait.
I belive they are subsidised, as are the bakeries.
Restaurants are dying unfortunatly, mostly due to the enforcement of drink driving laws in recent years. Still not too hard to find the good/cheap places though. Look for where the white vans are at noon.
As I've posted here before our local restaurant offers four courses, wine and coffee included for €12 - I doubt you'd find that in the UK
I was in France a couple of weeks ago. Couldn't believe how many shops/small firms were empty. Not used to seeing that in Europe. Looks like the recession has hit. Shame it hasn't dropped the prices of things.
Was it a Sunday?
Still not many signs of a recession doon here, though it's the first big weekend of the summer holidays and the place is mingin with tourists now. Glad I'll be getting out for the next few weeks 
