Is this country going to the dogs?

I've been in France 30 + years and never known rural France
do anything but struggle, that never changes.

It’s not as good as it was pre-covid is it ? We seem to have more cafes and restaurants and second hand shops and less clothes shops. More and more beauty parlours and massage parlours and more boarded up small shops. More non Australian goods , more Chinese areas and imports. Some places look exactly the same as Beijing now with all the new high rise buildings.

An example of this country going to the dogs

“The UK’s proposed laws to restrict civic freedoms such as the right to peaceful assembly and protest means it is now classified as “obstructed” – putting it alongside countries such as Poland, South Africa and Hungary.”

The Civicus Monitor, which tracks the democratic and civic health of 197 countries across the world, said the UK government was creating a “hostile environment” towards campaigners, charities and other civil society bodies.

Whitewavemark2 the discussion regarding restaurants came about because so many are closing or limiting opening times to when they can get customers...
As someone said earlier- if you have no cash you will not be eating out.

My local town has 20% to 25% shops closed down.
My town certainly feels like it's "going to the dogs".

It's a (previously) "working" town with one tourist attraction - which has also had to close down too.

Halfpint1, our holiday home is inland Lower Normandy, absolutely not a holiday area, that is limited to the coastal area.

It is an economically struggling area, primarily dependent on agriculture, typical of many rural areas in France.

MaizieD

paddyann54

Its not "going to the dogs" it well and truly went to the dogs over the past decade or more .When you have liars ,thieves and crooks running the country ,not to mention bigots andMP's who seem to be on a brain share what chance is there for England ?
Sadly they seem determined to drag the rest of the DISunited kingdom down with them .

There are times when I think a 'like' button would be handy.

Agree!

WW2 does this show that I , as a Tourist find eating out
too expensive but restaurants are full according to others , therefore the country cannot 'be going to the dogs'
I do eat out in France and yes there has been a price increase
but its manageable.
Monique I think you know well that 'holiday France ' is
extremely seasonal. The commerce de-camps from Ski restort
to Seaside and back every year , only major towns remain fully open.

Not sure what smart restaurants have to do with the country going to the dogs though🙂

Who was it described private wealth and public squalor ? - sums up this country pretty well.

Galbraith I think.

We went into London last week to a Michelin * restaurant, it was full.

We have an upmarket(ish) restaurant which is 10 minute slow walk (uphill) from us which you cannot get in Thursday-Sunday from 6pm onwards unless you book weeks in advance. Availability on other days is usually ok.

We have five Indian restaurants within walking distance, two you have to book or be disappointed the others are a bit hit and miss on availability.

We are in the S E.

My local favourite "special occasion" restaurant has cut hours and now only does tasting menus.

It's been like this for a year or so now.

Sorry, it was difficult to show all angles.

No idea how we got on to restaurants and a slump in business, but I'm always up for a discussion.
Earlier this eve, a chilly Tuesday in March, in a tiny Cornish village by the sea, this Michelin 🌟 restaurant had half a dozen eaters so far. Mind you at £175 a head that should pay the wages. Eating out is alive and kicking.

Just had an email from my favourite restaraunt in France. From this week he will be increasing his opening hours to include Thursday evening and Saturday lunchtime. So business must be picking up after the New Year slump.

Drugs!

I am not sure that it is new supermarkets that is closing restaurants.Maudi

What is closing restaurants, or at least drastically reducing the hours of restaurants, in our corner of France is the economic situation. Inflation in France is running at over 7%, but still rising, lower than in the UK, but still high.

When this happens one of the first things people cut back on is eating out. When we go over to France we have favourite restaurants we always visit, and we have seen them both cut back on opening times, and drastically reduce staff. One is our local 'poshnosh' and the other our local bistro.

We were in France in early January, a time when a lot of shops and restaurants do close for a week or so and the owners fly off somewhere sunny on holiday, but there are always some shops open - I expect they do good business. This year, however, almost the whole of our local town had shut for January, absolutely nothing was open and our local restaurant owner opted for a staycation. We didn't eat out because we couldn't find anywhere open.

We were there again at the beginning of this month, everything had re-opened, but reduced hours, reduced staff and reduced menus

Last year we stayed at a campsite at Foy le Grande in France the second time we had visited, the first time a few years ago it was vibrant full of little shops and a busy market this time it was full of boarded up nearly derelict shops and closed restaurants, only one was open, a new supermarket had opened outside of town probably adding to the towns decline.

The same is happening in the UK in my opinion with opening of large out of town shopping centres and supermarkets with free parking.

I visited my home town in Yorkshire last May and was so dismayed to find the main shopping area full of empty and some boarded , shops, it gave off a very run down impression.
Yes there are retail shop problems in France but I think not on the same scale.The eating out prices were scary and made the whole trip too expensive for a long stay

fancythat

Biblical morals were given for a reason. Peace for people in society, being one of them.

Jesus said "Love your neighbour as yourself".

Yup.

paddyann54

Its not "going to the dogs" it well and truly went to the dogs over the past decade or more .When you have liars ,thieves and crooks running the country ,not to mention bigots andMP's who seem to be on a brain share what chance is there for England ?
Sadly they seem determined to drag the rest of the DISunited kingdom down with them .

👍

The difficulty is that the more forensics are around to investigate crimes, the more crimes are investigatable, so they are, as a result more crimes are reported, that would not have been in the past and as the crime rate soars as a result, it is inevitable that the number of police is insufficient to dealwith the increased number of crimes, so fewer crimes are reported, which gets you very nearly back whre you started.

Sorry Jane, you're right of course.
It's for sale as a rental.
Apologies.

JaneJudge

sorry it does actually say how much they are paying £624!!

No, it says £65,000 purchase price freehold

JaneJudge

MaizieD, look at this.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132406589#/?channel=RES_BUY

I wonder how much the landlord is charging rent?

It said in the property details. Sitting tenant paying £624.00 per calendar month!

👏👏👏