Well my intrepid, prodigal pounds have returned from their little trip to India but, thanks to the world’s economy, they are worth considerably less now than they were when they were stolen two weeks ago.
I’m currently hoping that the other pounds out there will turn out to be as reliable as my three and bounce back to their former glory in the near future.
Meanwhile, if Mohammed can’t come to the mountain as the saying goes… In lieu of actually being in France, I’ve been busy recreating France in my own corner of London. First stop, a trip to see the magnificent ‘I’ve loved you so long’ or ‘Il y a longtemps que je t’aime’ at the cinema. A wonderful film starring Kristen Scott Thomas – now there’s a Brit who has taken integration seriously, her French was impeccable, if accented and her performance as a mother, paroled after serving 15 years in jail for her son’s murder, impressive.
It’s not just Scott Thomas and her co-stars who shine in the film; Nancy, where the drama unfolds, looks magnificent. If you are considering a pick-me-up trip, Lorraine would be the perfect place for a pre-Christmas jaunt. There’s the Christmas markets with their dazzling light displays to visit, not to mention that French classic, quiche lorraine, with its crumbling buttery crust and goey, delicious filling of eggs, cheese and bacon – perfect as a winter warmer. Buy the December issue now for more information on Christmas markets throughout France.
But if, like me, you’re grounded for the time being, you should plan a trip to our own fair capital come January for the ultimate in surrogate France – The France Show. You’ve got just over a week to register for free tickets at www.thefranceshow.com – the offer ends on 31st November – and if that’s not a credit crunch-beating proposition, I don’t know what is. Bon voyage.
It’s been a strange week indeed. The clocks have gone back meaning that, by the time I leave FPN HQ, it’s already pitch black; we’ve had our first snowfall and the pound has taken a nosedive. What’s more, my personal pounds (all three of them) have disappeared into the ether as someone in India has been busy stealing my entire salary and savings via a cloned version of my debit card.
All this has contributed to my overriding belief that we all need to seize the day, live in the moment and stop letting the world and his dog dictate when it’s the ‘right time’ for us to fulfil our dreams. Personally, I’m bored to death of being prudent. Since I graduated, I’ve been sensible, sensible, sensible. First, I paid off my student debt, next I saved for a deposit on a house. Once I’d signed my future earnings away for a tiny postage-stamp’s worth of space in London, I started paying into a pension fund. I managed to enjoy the full benefit of my monthly salary for precisely three seconds (or one pair of shoes – depending how you look at it), before this credit crunch business had me scrimping and saving all over again ‘just in case’. Now I’m busy watching someone else enjoy the benefits of my hard-earned cash. Literally. Yes, I’m sitting at my kitchen table, wearing three jumpers and sleeveless gloves because I can’t afford to turn the heating on, drinking an infusion verveine made with a re-used tea-bag, gazing at this thieving spendthrift’s antics via the medium of internet banking. This fraudster has been living it up in Bangalore, buying jewellery, clothes and cinema tickets, eating at restaurants and generally enjoying themselves, leaving me to pick up the tab. And I’m taking it personally. Very personally. It’s my own, personal credit crunch.
For, if you think about it, there isn’t much difference between what is happening to me right now, courtesy of this small-scale thief, and what’s been happening to all of us thanks to the irresponsible bankers of this world (insert cockney rhyming slang at will). Okay, so they may have got us into this mess legally (unlike my fraudster), but there they are, eating gold-stuffed olives and caviar washed down with Cristal as they sit on their diamond-encrusted thrones, rubbing their hands together with glee and tossing fifty-pound notes onto the fire of greed. Meanwhile, we mortals sit here shivering in multiple layers, watching as they wipe thousands off the value of our homes, fritter away our savings and trample all over our modest dreams.
What can we do? Take our fate into our own hands. Do now what we’ve been too cautious to do thus far. Because, if this thief and this credit crunch have taught me anything, it’s that being cautious doesn’t pay dividends. Forget the mortgage, savings and the pension, if I had travelled the world post-graduation, lived by the seat of my pants and saved worrying about the future for a rainy day, rather than saved money for a rainy day, I would be in exactly the same situation as I am now; broke - albeit with a far better tan. No, we need to rise up en masse, put up our umbrellas and follow our hearts.
So, if you’ve postponed your dream of moving to France, or buying that holiday home because of the current economic climate, I urge you to reconsider. After all, as the saying goes, you can’t take it with you, but as we’ve all seen this week, they can take it off you. When all is said and done, if we have to live on the breadline, I know whose baguettes I prefer.