French Roads - Bliss

Belgium is the only other country apart from the UK I can think of where I've experienced the same feeling of being 'off road' whilst actually being on the motorway network. Even they don't seem to have the same levels of traffic of UK roads south of roughly Preston /Newcastle though.

French roads in general are a joy to drive on, German autobahns too, if you can put up with the occasional scare as something flies past at Mach 1.
 
Brains said:
France
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View attachment 868267

Looks to me like the typical lower earner in France pays considerably less tax than the typical lower earner in the UK.

For the top few percent in either country they are about the same.

You can have a decent NHS, Roads, Education, Transportation and military if you want.
You just have to think long term for the benefit of all, not short term thinking for me, me, me.
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We also don't pay an annual Car Tax, over 70 depending on income you maybe exempt from 'Council Tax' on your home, it is a lot cheaper than UK anyway. Free school meals. Latest thing I saw in 'Mr Minute' if on benefit you can have your shoes repaired free.
 
EuroTrotters said:
not as bad as Harwich
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Seems like it’s nationwide. Joking aside, what a disgrace, supposedly one of the richest nations on the planet. And before anyone ask, no I don’t have a solution, well I do but to much for a Saturday morning when we have football to get ready for. COYB

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Lenny HB said:
I first drove in France in 1979, roads were awful compared to ours, how times change.
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I remember it well. First trip in 1972 in an MG Midget with a two man tent and no money to speak of. Came back with a DAF starter motor fitted courtesy of a very helpful local French mechanic.
Enjoyed the 70’s now enjoying our 70’s!!
 
JRT said:
My heart sinks when we pull onto the M20 from the Shuttle terminal at Folkestone.

Straight into lane and speed restrictions along with an adverse camber for miles. That sets the trend for the rest of the trip home. And of course our delightful 'smart' motorways.

Yes the Autoroutes are pricey but worth every Euro.
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Ditto, we have to travel back to Dorset…180 miles, 5 motorways and then we get to my beautiful county that has no motorways and spend even more time trying to get home on ridiculous roads. Love travelling in France, hubby drives, I navigate and apart from the roundabouts that pop up on a yearly basis, we get along swimmingly.
 
MichaelT said:
You too could have great roads and even a decent health service but you would also have to pay 55% tax.....
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That is an interesting question.

France's taxes are indeed higher overall. (Leaving aside the fact that if you were to be 'unfortunate' enough to earn between £ 100k and about £125k in the UK, your marginal tax on that income would be 62%)

Looking at tax as a percentage of GDP, some examples are:

France
46.10%​
Spain
37.50%​
Portugal
36.40%​
UK
35.30%​

But even that masks differences. France, like Portugal, has many toll roads. Spain, like the UK, has few. So the burden on the general taxpayer is reduced and the cost is levied to a greater extent based on use. All taxes, but they are experienced very differently.

And countries often have a completely different overall ethos about taxes, what the public interest is, what should be preserved and so on. Then once they have those conventions they are extremely difficult to change.

We for instance pay a fortune to travel by rail into London. Because the cost isn't subsidised by the public purse, compared with, say, European comparators. Then we try to drive in by car. But then we have congestion charges, exorbitant parking fees, emission zones. So we travel by train. But it's massively expensive. Which has a knock on effect on the pricing of the property market. Which then establishes its own set of relative values which politicians would tamper with at their peril. (Cheaper rail travel would encourage people to travel in from further, help to alter the relative premiums commanded by properties from central London to the furthest hinterland, and have a hundred other knock-on effects that would create winners and losers.)

And in France they can - apparently effortlessly - have the TGV. We may, in the fullness of time, have about half an HS2. Heathrow terminal 5 took 17 (?) years to build. But another runway is politically impossible.

It's obviously a long debate, but the UK hasn't been any sort of shining example to anyone on this score for a very long time.
 
Broadway said:
I remember it well. First trip in 1972 in an MG Midget with a two man tent and no money to speak of.
Enjoyed the 70’s now enjoying our 70’s!!
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wow.. what a coincidence..

Girlfriend and I went the same year in an MG Midget to south of France, also with a two man Black's Good Companion tent

came back via Switzerland ,, never forget that trip..

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134.jpeg
 
JRT said:
Love the yellow headlights......we did that to our Escort first time we went to France in 1984, with headlight paint from Halfords.
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yes, yellow headlight paint..

legal requirement back then when French cars had yellow headlight bulbs

now we have to fit beam benders ... little changes .. lol
 
MichaelT said:
You too could have great roads and even a decent health service but you would also have to pay 55% tax.....
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No we could get them to stop spunking it on vanity projects, translators for illiterate illegals who should be learning to pass an english exam, paperwork in 90 different languages, housing for the aforesaid wasters,expenses for mp's, second home allowances for the same etc; etc; etc; There is plenty of money in tax they just need to use it wisely. Not going to happen though .
 
scotjimland said:
wow.. what a coincidence..

Girlfriend and I went the same year in an MG Midget to south of France, also with a two man Black's Good Companion tent

came back via Switzerland ,, never forget that trip..

View attachment 868452View attachment 868453View attachment 868454

View attachment 868458
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Brilliant!! You have the same haircut I had!! Sadly no more. My midget was F reg which is why it kept breaking down and we had to get push starts every day from the other campers. Great days.
 
scotjimland said:
yes, yellow headlight paint..

legal requirement back then when French cars had yellow headlight bulbs

now we have to fit beam benders ... little changes .. lol
Click to expand...

But has changed again, because more recent vehicles have straight-dip headlights which are satisfactory in EU and UK.
 
My third classic Mini a 1980's model had a lever behind both the lights that could be switched over to suite LHD or RHD, quite an innovation at the time.

It was a rare feature and appeared on Minis' made in Belgium.
 
PaulW2 said:
That is an interesting question.

France's taxes are indeed higher overall. (Leaving aside the fact that if you were to be 'unfortunate' enough to earn between £ 100k and about £125k in the UK, your marginal tax on that income would be 62%)

Looking at tax as a percentage of GDP, some examples are:

France
46.10%​
Spain
37.50%​
Portugal
36.40%​
UK
35.30%​

But even that masks differences. France, like Portugal, has many toll roads. Spain, like the UK, has few. So the burden on the general taxpayer is reduced and the cost is levied to a greater extent based on use. All taxes, but they are experienced very differently.

And countries often have a completely different overall ethos about taxes, what the public interest is, what should be preserved and so on. Then once they have those conventions they are extremely difficult to change.

We for instance pay a fortune to travel by rail into London. Because the cost isn't subsidised by the public purse, compared with, say, European comparators. Then we try to drive in by car. But then we have congestion charges, exorbitant parking fees, emission zones. So we travel by train. But it's massively expensive. Which has a knock on effect on the pricing of the property market. Which then establishes its own set of relative values which politicians would tamper with at their peril. (Cheaper rail travel would encourage people to travel in from further, help to alter the relative premiums commanded by properties from central London to the furthest hinterland, and have a hundred other knock-on effects that would create winners and losers.)

And in France they can - apparently effortlessly - have the TGV. We may, in the fullness of time, have about half an HS2. Heathrow terminal 5 took 17 (?) years to build. But another runway is politically impossible.

It's obviously a long debate, but the UK hasn't been any sort of shining example to anyone on this score for a very long time.
Click to expand...
Excellent excellent post.
 
gus-lopez said:
No we could get them to stop spunking it on vanity projects, translators for illiterate illegals who should be learning to pass an english exam, paperwork in 90 different languages, housing for the aforesaid wasters,expenses for mp's, second home allowances for the same etc; etc; etc; There is plenty of money in tax they just need to use it wisely. Not going to happen though .
Click to expand...
How very true. Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas. You’ve only to look at just what’s happened to Lee Anderson.

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