France is going to be shut down 22nd June

I note she doesn't actually live in France, she lives in Denmark, so she has no real hand on the pulse of France. I have also just googled the shut down, which is meant to be Saturday week and there are only 2 mentions of it. One from Mumsnet referencing this site and something called ^Basedamy*, which I think is the web site for this lady. Absolutely no other mention.

If France is having a national closing down on the 22nd June then by now an awful lot of people will be involved with planning it, thousands of them and the idea that thousands of people could be planning something that is to happen in 10 days time and involve the whole nation and not one of those involved, whether by accident or design, has said anything to anybody who has leaked it to the press defies belief.

I am going to France on Monday, coming back on Saturday, which is the 22nd - and that puzzles me. Why close the country down on a Saturday? Half the country will be shut down anyway as it is the weekend. The French always plan their demonstrations to get the maximum effect and closing down on a Saturday will certainly reduce the effect of the close down.

I have scanned my local paper in France and also a couple of the nationals and there isn't a peep about any unrest.

I may be proved wrong (it won't be the first time) but I think this lady, with her doomladen prognostifications, is talking complete and utter tosh and I am not rebooking my ferry ticket.

This could be Fake News then?

That is my feeling.

I had to laugh at her cloak & dagger presentation like she was in the Resistance and breaking cover to pass on info from her 'contact'

Yes it could well be fake news. I agree.

I think France is a beautiful country.
I will be there on the 22nd but 'if' it's only for a day it's not a problem for us.

I posted my earlier message before I'd listened to the video, so just heard it.
It could be fake news, but more likely just exaggeration, dramatising.
French people are more used to shut-downs than we are.
One example was the blockade of diesel and petrol producers when they put prices up. Our local petrol station ran out, there were long queues elsewhere, then we just gave up and waited. Not for long, they started up again.
One year we were without electricity for 10 days when the lines blew down in a storm.
It's true about electricity and gas prices rising there, but they are here too.
I think the worst was a 'manifestation' of the local farmers against a very unfair EU ruling, which blocked the main route to Toulouse for weeks.

I've just looked at the video from Secret Sources and it would be interesting to know the expertise of her source. I can't say I like her delivery very much. Rather portentous.

When the gilet jaune demos started, French friends just told us not to go to the supermarkets on the relevant days. I live in SW France and generally the action taken by the demonstrators is to block roundabouts some of the autoroutes. As far as I'm aware there was little violence or damage to property, unlike in Paris where the demonstrators were infiltrated by extremists.

A few years ago there were several rail strikes but these were all publicised in advance so that it was usually possible to avoid them.

IMO France does need a bit of a wake up call. There is too much bureaucracy. In the UK if a person decides that they want to start a business they can generally do so without immediately notifying the authorities. This means that they can do market research and test the waters to see if their idea is viable. If you want to do the same in France you have register with the authorities before you can do anything as you cannot advertise without having a siret number. As a result there are a lot of people working on the black.

Peter Mayle, in his book A Year in Provence made a big joke about trying to get workmen in and waiting years to get jobs done. This is the direct result of the stultifying business system that Dinahmo describes above.

All taxes, social security payments have to be paid up front before the start of the tax year and are not, as I understand it, refundable, so every workman makes sure that he has a really long order book, preferably a year long order book before making these payments.

So when we book the mason to do some outside maintenance for us, we know that a year will elapse between agreeing the work and the price and him actually being able to do it.

Our local^gilets jaunes^ in Normandy, are very jolly and cheerful. They have parked a holiday caravan on the roundabout by the supermarket, they have a brazier and a pile of pallets as fuel and have made themselves very comfortable, and cause no problems at all.

Since pallets are the standard fuel for the ubiquitous brazier, present wherever the gilets jaunes are, I would imagine there will be a pallet shortage in France this year. A good market opportunity for British manufacturers and suppliers of pallets over the next year

I have looked at the cestlagreve website/app and there is nothing on there for the 22nd June. National strikes are never on Saturday from my experience of fifteen years of living in France. There may be a gilets jaunes protest, but they have lost most of their support so I doubt it will amount to much. Sounds like a load of rubbish to me.

MOnica I don't recognise that description of cotisations. We used to pay a standard minimum amount which was for health cover, sickness and pensions, but above that it was definitely adjusted from business revenues. I know that Macron has reformed the system and people say it is better now though by no means perfect. It is hard to get people with small businesses to do things but that is mostly because they are so busy. It also depends on who you know. In our commune we ask Dédé and he always knows someone who can. ?

As I said Mamie this was what I understood, that I was unsure is why I worded it that way. You know more about it than I do.

We have had our house 30 years, but it is a holiday home and we have our long standing tradesmen, but our masons are older and rather old fashioned, we can now text him, but not yet email him.

The french are always protesting in the summer!
Bar milk petrol. Had many a happy extra week holiday in France due to political protests in the past!
Vive la difference!!!!

‘BSE’

Great...i go to France that day

Keep an eye on this website. Nothing there for 22nd June.
www.cestlagreve.fr/
(Une grève is a strike).

Excellent site Mamie

There is an app too MOnica. We may be a bit behind the times here but at least we have an app to tell us when and where the strikes are. ???

I googled "greve 22 juin" and found only one entry. Apparently, though, there was a strike on 22 June 2018 as well!

France closes down in the summer doesn’t it? Love it though.

If it is “fake news” are we not perpetuating it by maintaining this thread?

It's this present troublesome generation that the majority of countries now see with their violent protests. Look at Hong Kong

What about Hongkong, ellanvannin?
People from all walks of life there are protesting about changes to the arrangements regarding extradition to China.
What has that got to do with what may or may not be going on in France?

To my knowledge there's never been protests in Hong Kong, janeainsworth.
It didn't happen there before sovereignty was handed to China.
Just sayin'.

I think protests in one form or another have been universal. You can’t claim anywhere immune I’m afraid.

Mamie

The amount of cotisations that you pay depends upon the regime under which you are registered. Sarkozy brought in the auto-entrepreneurs scheme for those who wanted to work occasionally, such as gardeners, cleaners, handymen etc or the semi retired. Under this scheme you are not allowed any deductions for expenses and pay cotisations on your turnover. I'm a registered ae and I pay around 27% of my turnover each quarter. You were probably registered under a different scheme where you pay cotisations on your profit albeit at a higher rate.