My employer has an office in Paris but over the past ten months, I’ve been working (remotely) on a project with a client in Grenoble. We don’t have enough Euro transportation resources, so I got tagged.

During the ten months, I have been shocked by how much time those people take off. I know, we all joke about the French never having to work, but consider my counterpart – the business lead for the client. Since December 1, 2018, she has taken six weeks of vacation. She also took two weeks off because she was “fatigued.” I would estimate this woman to be approximately 40 years old, so the fatigue likely wasn’t from advanced age. She also doesn’t work Wednesdays. Oh, and they canceled all of the WebEx meetings for a month because “nobody in their office works in August.”

So I’ve been considering putting in for a transfer to the Paris office. Financially, I’m several years off from retiring – some tough years at the end of my self-employment. But the way I figure, I could transfer to France and be mostly retired while still drawing a regular paycheck.

Then this morning I ran across this article. While Mrs. TGA would be financially secure, I somehow don’t think she’d be amused. But hey! It would be like an extra life insurance policy, right?

I don’t see any drawbacks for me. Still can’t figure out why their economy remains so stagnant, though.