[joshem]

Is there anyone on this forum that window cleans in France?

[steve rix]

Most people in france clean their own windows. They open the opposite way to ours so you can clean bpth sides from inside. Hope it dont catch on over here!!

[Andy Foster]

My family in fance think it is hilarious that anyone would pay for a window cleaner.
They do it themselves, or not at all.

[AS Window Cleaning]

Yeah, when i was visiting there, they referred to window cleaning as not being a proper job!  as mentioned they all seem to have shutters on, keeping them cleaner, and they all can be accessed from inside, so if they were bothered they could clean their own.

No chance of relocating over there i am afraid if you want to continue window cleaning!

[stuart mc]

there must be commercial window cleaners though, they have the same stupid built buildings that we do, and shops, and offices and every other type of commercial then there must be older buildings that can't be done from inside

[Catherine10]

I lived in France on and off for four years, never saw a window cleaner once in that time.  However I have a French friend that works in Paris, and he was saying yes, in Paris, so maybe more so in the bigger cities.  I know our windows opened inwards.  One of the chaps answered earlier up, that they do the windows themselves and having lived there for four years, I can probably see this is the case.  Where we were in rural France, self sufficiency was the way to live, grow veg, preserve, swaps etc. Use the local tradesman, apples pressed for cider, then the rest taken up to the licenced still to make calvados.  Very traditional

[GB Window Cleaning]

there must be commercial window cleaners though, they have the same stupid built buildings that we do, and shops, and offices and every other type of commercial then there must be older buildings that can't be done from inside

yeah, there must be windys, especially for big commercial/industrial

[Catherine10]

I think GB in the bigger cities.

[bobby p]

brother lives South of Paris and told me he sees a lady doing the shops  in his small town .

[Tom White]

I believe the French have less bath tubs per person than in any other part of Europe and also use less bars of soap per capita head.

From that I'd infer the French have problems washing themselves, never mind their windows; they're a race with a hygiene problem, I guess.

[joshem]

I lived there for a while a few years ago and I don't recall ever seeing a wc. I've been back since and only once did I see a bloke cleaning a shop. I've tried Google searching businesses and you can find them, as said in the cities, but they're still few and far between. Shame cause I'd love to go back. So what European countries have window cleaners like we do then?

[Tom White]

So what European countries have window cleaners like we do then?

Germany does, but I think it's done by appointment and inside and out done at the same time.  But really, you don't want to live there, because Cozy (a member here) lives there.  Serious.  Germany is his patch.

Maybe Belgium would suit better?

You sound desperate to get away.

[G Griffin]

Have a look at some 'dodgy' sites on le web, and there's a video of some bloke doing the Paris Hilton.

[AS Window Cleaning]

I believe the French have less bath tubs per person than in any other part of Europe and also use less bars of soap per capita head.

From that I'd infer the French have problems washing themselves, never mind their windows; they're a race with a hygiene problem, I guess.

not that we're stereotyping the frogs or anything....

[Alex Gardiner]

I had a friend who moved over to France about 20 years ago with his French wife and family. He moved to a city in Brittany and built up a very large window cleaning round. It was mainly commercial work due to the above points regarding domestic windows (shutters, opening inwards etc).

I usually go to Brittany about once a year on holiday and had never seen a window cleaner until a couple of years ago when I saw at least 3 different WFP window cleaning firms carrying out cleaning on different commercial premises - shops, garages, offices etc.