My Life in the P-O – Twenty Years On: Episode 2
My husband, Olivier, has just marched by, pulling a rabbit with a dog attached to the other end, singing hi ho, hi ho as they drag each other round the salon! I do have a photo, but I’m using it for blackmail purposes when and if needed.
What a privilege it is to be loved by a dog. What a blessing. I know we’re not all animal lovers and that’s OK, but that feeling of unconditional love and loyalty is something you will never get from a human being, no matter how amazing he or she is (‘tho my husband Olivier comes a pretty close second!)
When we moved over here in 2005, we brought with us the doggy love of my life, Bisou. When we lost her 12 years later, we were sure we would never get another dog. It hurt too much, and even as it got easier, we were aware that we had so much more freedom without a dog. But it was a quiet, sad house.
Only dog owners and lovers will understand this, but do you know one of the things that I missed most about Her Royal Hairiness? Her smell. That doggie odour that would envelope me when I held my face against her furry body, that sense of peace and well being,….. The circle of life and death is a terrible thing, inevitable though it is, but I hope nevertheless that I will never get used to it.
And not to replace, never to replace, but to fill the enormous gap she left in our lives, along came Haribo, followed quickly by Poppet.
I know this is about my life in the P-O, but my dogs play such an important part in that life. Love me, love my dog as they say. And doing just that is easy here in the P-O where most restaurants and shops accept well behaved dogs – and even some supermarkets!
Random reflection: On a recent walk up in the hills above Les Chartreuses behind Le Boulou casino, we met a herd of wild goats. What I would like to know is why is it that goats smell of goats cheese (what a whiff – we could smell them coming from miles away) but cows don’t smell of cow’s cheese? Another puzzle in life’s rich tapestry for me to ponder!
The weather is moody and changeable at the moment and we have snow on the Albères. Just yesterday, we were in T shirts. Love this micro climate which brings us cold rain in Perpignan and warm sunshine in Maureillas at the same time. You could spend all day chasing around after the sunshine if you were so inclined!
And what’s been going on with P-O Life Mag, many people have been asking. Wellllll, to bring you up to date…… (Put your hands over your ears and scroll down if you’re not interested – this is just me venting!!)
When rights are wrong – a P-O Life story
P-O Live survives on advertising only. Although we are much loved by many, including the department’s tourism agencies, nobody has yet offered us a grant or regular sponsorship so right from the beginning, the scrabbling around to finance the printing and design was the daily headache.
I am many things (!) but a salesperson I am not! In fact, the only time I tried to sell an advert ended with my buying the product, but not selling the ad. Then I found Shelby – or should I say, she found me. Bubbly, lovely, a sparkling fountain overflowing with enthusiasm, a good friend – and a great sales lady.
Under her supervision, the magazine grew from an 8 page pamphlet to a 64 page magazine. Devastated when she left after 5 years, I found FeeBee. And here is where our story begins.
Feebee worked for P-O Life as sales director (posh title as she was the only one on the team) for over seven years. She took us up to the next level. I trusted her completely. She was competent, organised focussed, honest, reliable and good at her job. Then her father fell ill in the UK and she needed to go back. Obviously, there was never any question of refusing. Family and health before work. Unfortunately for me, she decided not to come back for many months and just stopped answering email and phone calls, leaving myself and Laura on our own, both with the selling skills of a slug. Bad enough, but she also learnt that the employee comes first and foremost in France and if she played her cards right, there could be a few quid in it.
We continued to pay her full salary, hoping she’d come back, knowing she was going through bad times, and offering support at first, tho as the bills came in and the ads which paid the printer, designer and salaries etc didn’t come in, I started to panic. After several months, and reluctantly, we started ‘licenciement’ (dismissal) procedures. She had the P-O Life phone, the iPad everything we needed to contact clients or for them to contact us, she wasn’t answering any communications for or from us or anyone, we didn’t even have her address in the UK. We tried to do everything right. Sad to have lost her, but life and work go on. Covid also complicated the issue. Could she have got back? Well no, probably not at first, but several months later, flights were back to normal, so yes.
One year later, having heard nothing from her, bought new phones and iPads and printers and everything she had kept, she took us to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal – and won on a ‘vice de procedure’, a procedural error, ie we had given her an extra week (hoping she’d come back) before starting dismissal procedures, and continued paying her when we should have stopped! They awarded her 25 thousand, not the 50 thousand she had asked for! We were lucky, the expensive solicitor told us. The Prud’hommes were sympathetic to our case, describing us as dealing acting with “bonne foi, patience et empathie“. But this is France! L’employé est roi! Or reine in this case. Dread to think what would have happened if they had been unsympathetic!!
She was, in my opinion, a straightforward lady. ‘Carrée’ as we would say in French. Honest, honourable….so I was shocked. We have only recently finished paying. I am still shocked.
Even sadder was to have lost a friend.
Move on a year to Bebete. French this time so already knew her way around the benefits system. Started off on a full time contract, after 6 months, a new man entered her life and she demanded to go part time to spend more time with him. I agreed and started looking for another part timer to make up for it….but Bebete was no longer on the ball, and we weren’t selling enough advertising to pay a second person (remember that in France, the charges you pay for an employée are enormous – nearly double the salary – and we were still paying Feebee).
Move on less than a year, and we received a text out of the blue to say that she had dumped the P-O Life car in a car park by the lake, and would be sending a sick note. No explanations……Three months later she was still on sick, we were still paying her, and still not allowed to know what was wrong with her. Generic sick notes said that she was allowed to go out but gave no reason why she was sick. Apparently the employer isn’t allowed to know. She might have told the doctors that I was a mad axe murderer, that I made her stick her head in a bucket of ice every morning or that I filled her hovercraft with eels. Who knows?!
And here we are in 2026 and I am still rep-less and incompetent where selling is concerned. You may also have noticed these on-line ads on the website. Hate them but it’s my best attempt at advertising revenue without actually having to ask anybody for money!! 🙂 Please click on them!!
So dear reader, you are very likely bored rigid by now – but look at it this way. I needed a rant, you have been kind enough to read/listen and you are so much cheaper than a session with a psychiatrist so job done! 🙂
And finally….
A few observations on driving in the P-O. Living around here does not hone your driving skills to a a fine point! In fact, out of high season, you get so used to tootling around at whatever speed you fancy, with the minimum of awareness of whatever may be going on around you, that when things do go on, it’s a bit of a shock! The other problem is that, living in a small community, people wave to you, or just distract you by unreasonably standing on the pavement and smiling.
Join me next week for another ramble? Hope so. Xx
