How do you feel about coming back to France? (page 3 of 5)

Feeling of downgrading, loss of industry, withdrawal, and abandonment of industrial, productive, and export-oriented vocation.

Sorry, but it’s clear you’ve never worked in industry. You listen to either CNews or guys like Charles Gave too much—they spout nonsense all the time. For one thing, Brittany isn’t just crêperies in Quimper or galettes from Pont-Aven. It also has major investments, especially on Île Longue, where there’s a nuclear submarine base. As for industry in France, I’m not making this up—it’s INSEE data: 322,386 companies, 1,544 € billion in turnover, and 368 € billion in added value. So, the bad faith only goes so far.

About Brittany, I heard on the radio—I can’t remember the exact date, but it wasn’t recent—that Brittany would be the most populated region in France by 2050. .

What’s happening across France is that the interior is emptying out, and the population is "migrating" toward the coasts. The same thing happened in the U.S., where people moved to Sun Belt states like Florida or California. Why Brittany? Because real estate there is still relatively affordable compared to Languedoc-Roussillon or the PACA region.

Sorry, but it’s obvious you’ve never worked in the industry. You listen to either CNews or guys like Charles Gave too much, who spout nonsense all the time. For one thing, Brittany isn’t just crêperies in Quimper or galettes from Pont-Aven—it’s also major investments, particularly on Île Longue, where there’s a nuclear submarine base.

I’d rather not comment on what you’re saying; you don’t know who you’re talking to, and it’d almost be funny if it weren’t so off-base. If there’s one thing Bretons would be happy to do without, it’s the Île Longue base, which is seen mostly as a risk with no real benefit.

Michel

In Clermont-Ferrand, you're just two hours' drive from LYS Lyon. So if you want, compare it with Brest and Rennes, or even Nantes. It's not the same in terms of opening up to the world. It's not an obsession—this is a travel forum, after all! 🙂 People who never leave Brittany and can't compare might feel fine; I know lots who never go beyond Rennes. But once you've gotten a taste for the world, it's unbearable.

Michel

Choosing Brittany was because of climate change—if there’s a heatwave, it starts later than in other regions and ends earlier. That’s the main reason. As for real estate, it’s very expensive, especially within 20 km of the coast and along the RN 165. The fact that the airports are out of the way doesn’t affect the desire to live in Brittany at all.

Yeah, real estate is expensive in Brittany near the coast, but inland it costs next to nothing. You can buy a house for less than 50,000 €. Sure, there’s often some work to be done though.

The fact that airports are out of the way doesn’t change the desire to live in Brittany at all.

Run a few price simulations, and we’ll talk about it again. There aren’t actually any real airports—just a shuttle airport with an Air France monopoly for very expensive flights, and seasonal low-cost flights to summer tourist spots like Porto, Marrakech, Agadir... Yes, yes, there are houses for less than 50,000 €, even under 40,000 €. Come live here . They’re mostly bought by working-class English people who live there very roughly, with dogs and horses. Or by Roma or people breaking away from big cities who get subsidies from the towns to stay under the radar.

As for climate change, that’s a bit of a strange explanation; I don’t think it’s very relevant.

Michel

Try to explain your comment about climate change—why is it strange and irrelevant?

Ethnic change is clearly happening faster than climate change. The latter has taken a pause at the moment: it’s not very warm in France.

Ethnic change is clearly faster than climate change. The latter has currently paused: it’s not particularly hot in France.

Now that we’ve clarified our intentions (see messages 32 and 36), I’ll repeat the question you, as the vigilant watcher of VF’s life, good comrade, expansive, and rather affable, seem to be dodging:

Can you be more specific?

In this wonderfully vintage VF-style thread, there are messages crossing paths without ever meeting, slightly condescending compulsive monologues, carefully cultivated postures, a sugary tone that fools no one—or maybe it does—obsessions creeping forward softly without anything to stop them...

Everyone comes as they are, and everyone leaves as they please. And vice versa.

So... what’s there to fear in saying things outright rather than hinting at them?

France is doing just fine, it's @tetras that's in trouble

The capercaillie, a bird of ill omen?

... an endangered species that needs to be protected.

In Europe, its territory extends across the plains starting from the north and east of Poland and the north of Ukraine, covering Belarus, the Baltic states, the Scandinavian countries, and a large part of European Russia.

Any ideas why?

(and sometimes you find its feathers on a dreary virtual plain.)

In a really nice old-school VF-style thread, there’s always that batch of pure personal attacks and petty jabs.

Michel

In a rather lovely old-school French way, there’s always that batch of pure personal and petty attacks.

Michel

QED. And no hope of redemption. Just another reason to dread going back home.

In Clermont-Ferrand, you're two hours by road from LYS Lyon. So if you want, you can compare it with Brest and Rennes, or even Nantes. It's not the same in terms of global accessibility.

Lyon is a secondary airport, and you can count more on 2 hours 30 than 2 hours.

If everything goes well... (Snow, traffic jams, etc.)

In short, no choice—Paris prices aren’t an option, nor is the ability to leave easily any other way than by car...

Global accessibility from the "empty France"? Not happening.

But you can’t have it all. The advantages of the area far outweigh the drawbacks.

It’d never occur to me to move to Paris just to have good airports easily accessible by public transport.

If you live in Brittany, it’s because something tips the balance in favor of that region.

Otherwise, given the picture you paint, you’re a bit of a masochist.

Hi Agnès,

I don’t know how else to tell you...

Here you go—side by side, the Wikipedia pages for destinations from RNS Rennes and LYS Lyon, meaning two good hours’ drive apart:

Rennes: 11 year-round destinations, 9 airlines, only one alliance. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A9roport_de_Rennes-Bretagne

Lyon: 138 year-round destinations, 49 airlines, all the major alliances. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A9roport_de_Lyon-Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry

You really have no idea what it costs—in money and hassle—to go to Paris just to catch a flight. In Europe, there aren’t many places where you have to travel over 500 km to reach a proper international airport. Maybe Norway or northern Sweden. But even there, there are PSO (Public Service Obligation) routes, and flights are subsidized—not made more and more expensive, like what’s happening in France with Brittany.

When it comes to Brittany, you act shocked or skeptical, but you don’t have a clue about the reality.

As for why I stay, I’ve already answered: my job.

Michel

You really don’t realize what it takes—cost-wise and logistically—to go to Paris just to catch a flight

Oh, but I *do* do it sometimes...

Lyon isn’t some magic solution, and it doesn’t offer the same range of options as Paris. A lot of destinations are just European spots that aren’t that exciting if you’re not into pure beachside lounging or city breaks.

Connections can be *super* long, and flights are less frequent.

It’s often more expensive than flying from Paris, and the options are shrinking instead of growing (Qatar Airways leaving, for example).

I’ve also flown out of Clermont-Ferrand or Toulouse before.

When it comes to Brittany, you act all shocked or skeptical, but you have no real idea what the reality is like.

Oh, and *you* do when it comes to what life’s like for someone in Aurillac, Saint-Flour, or Laguiole?

Because you have one about what’s happening for a resident of Aurillac, Saint-Flour, or Laguiole?

No, but I’m not talking about it, while you keep speculating about what Bretons are supposed to think about their region...

For Lyon airport, you don’t know how lucky you are; you’ve got connections to tons of European hubs to go just about anywhere. As for prices, I don’t know about Lyon, but flying from Brest or Rennes to a European destination usually costs double what it does from Paris.

Michel

I know some Bretons. You don’t have a monopoly on them...😛

For Lyon airport, you don’t know how lucky you are; you’ve got connections to tons of European hubs to go just about anywhere.

Meh.

From that point of view, I was way luckier when I lived in Rouen. CDG was within reach with special car rental rates to get there, and pretty much all the airlines were competing with each other.

hi there, I recently saw on the show "Le Monde de Jamy" about climate change. People have started planting vineyards in Brittany to produce wine because other wine-growing regions in France are beginning to have issues with the changing climate. Brittany is becoming an asset in this sector, not to mention the tourism that surges when heatwaves hit the south and southwest.

Hi there, I recently saw on the show "Le Monde de Jamy" about climate change. People have started planting vineyards in Brittany to produce wine because other wine-growing regions in France are beginning to have issues with the changing climate. Brittany is becoming an asset in this sector, not to mention the tourism that surges when heatwaves hit the south and southwest.

We don’t grow sugarcane In Morbihan We don’t cultivate bananas In Morbihan But what’s certain is that on Saturday nights In the bistros and bars We’re all totally wasted In Morbihan