French justice in real time
It seems life has decided that I require a course in different aspects of the French legal system. At the same time. To wit, real estate law and neighborhood law. My personal assignments would be a hidden defect (the shower that caused mold and rot) and a neighbor across from me who shares the courtyard, who threatens to kill my kitten (said kitten is quite literally caged into my patio; he can’t bother anyone besides me), sprays kitten and I with her garden hose, and who has now left excrement and dirty toilet paper on my patio several times.
Yes: excrement and dirty toilet paper. I have photos. I won’t post them, since I doubt anyone wants or needs to be reminded what poo looks like. And no, it was not poo from my cat, since it was far too large, plus I saw her put it on my patio. I could hardly believe my eyes, but there it was, my neighbor woman cutting wires that hold my fencing together while cackling, and then putting her hand through the newly-created hole to drop crap onto my patio.
I went to the commissariat to have another main courante written up, detailing the events I wrote above. (Apart from the dirty toilet paper, because that was what awaited me when I got home from visiting the police.) After speaking with the people in that neighbor’s building (she’s in a different one from mine), their building management was alerted, and is going to bring une plainte before the Procureur de la République, since there’s a long trail of mains courantes preceding mine. This means all parties shall be heard: people from the woman’s building, myself, and the woman concerned.
In these cases I appreciate having my blog — it helps to make such experiences feel less futile. As in, at least I can share my experiences in a way that others can learn from and/or relate to; there are plenty of people in France (just as everywhere) who have neighbor problems, so likely some of them are immigrants/expatriates, and it’s nice to know what actions can be taken when it gets serious. I’m lucky to have neighbors who have lived with the threatening woman for several years and so who were able to guide me; others aren’t that lucky. That said, I do wish it were never this serious. I’m getting sick of having to be on guard every time I let out my kitten; tired of wondering when the neighbor will storm out and start screaming at me when I water my plants; tired of having to pretend I don’t hear her when she does (I refuse to respond to her in any way, it would only make things worse); tired of wondering what kind of insecticide she sprays on her — and thus many of my — plants every two days (that is a fact, not an exaggeration); tired of hearing the foul insults she hurls at all the neighbors; tired of checking my kitten for any signs of poisoning and worrying whether I’ll come home from work to a deathly ill, or worse, dead, kitten one evening because I missed something.
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December 10th, 2008 at 02:17
I’m so sorry for your situation… I feel tired just picturing you in this full time alert situation, I can’t imagine how it really is… I just hope the justice won’t take long to manifest. Any idea how this works in France?
December 10th, 2008 at 03:02
My deepest sympathies to you. I can’t imagine living with a crazy woman next door. Hopefully the French justice system can do something for you. Meantime, keep a close eye on your adorable cat.
Barb
December 10th, 2008 at 09:42
Oh Fraise, this sounds just so awful. It reminds me of two family stories of bad neighbors. My brother-in-law was accused of being a peeping tom, police went to knocked on my sister’s door in the night and frightened her and my brother-in-law wasn’t even at home. The woman was mentally ill and did many things worse than that to them. Another happened to my young cousin while she was recuperating from her masectomy last spring, neighbors knowing she had just come out of surgery began a continuous noisy construction project. They actually told her that they didn’t like her very much as she was a city person not a suburban person. (She lives in the suburbs.) I hope that your situation will come to a good conclusion for you and your darling kitty. mim
December 11th, 2008 at 12:50
Finding a “conclusion” to being harassed by a mentally unstable person will take a great deal of fortitude, rationale thinking, and non-emotional behavior; I think you’re very well-equipped to get through this situation in a productive way. Your normal neighbors are lucky to have you.
December 11th, 2008 at 14:05
There are some extremely sick people about. It must be hell, but as the previous poster wrote, remaining calm and positive is the only way through. Best of luck :-)
December 14th, 2008 at 00:49
yikes, it’s the cackling that gets me. I worry about Kanoko. I am so so glad that I have no neighbors. And the ones I do have (they are on the next pieces of land or across the street) are friends and cat lovers.
whew.
Maybe it’s just that movie about the well but it seems French people can be especially vindictive. I have close French friends who would agree.
December 14th, 2008 at 11:01
She’s mentally ill, yes; it’s clear from when I tried talking to her 6 months ago (I stopped and haven’t since) that she does not reason rationally. The cackling, which she does pretty often, is supposed to be frightening. So I never show I’m frightened. Anyway she’d have to break down the fencing to get to me, and even then, she’s literally half my size, and I could finally call the cops for physical aggression.
I don’t know what you mean by vindictive? Do you mean people getting angry with her, the neighbor, for what she’s done? Or do you mean the neighbor herself? (She’s German, not French.)
January 23rd, 2009 at 16:02
I can relate. I have recently moved and my next door neighbour is horrible. He’s been giving me hard time from the first day and i have no idea why. I tried to be nice from the start and didn’t do anything to bother him. Well, what can you say… I guess that’s just the way it is. Luckily I’m renting the place and I’ll probably move in a couple of months.
I hope that the justice system will fix your situation. I do wish you all the best.
January 25th, 2011 at 10:02
[...] on, there’s more about the nasty neighbour from hell at French Justice in Real Time! Here, Anna’s Noxious Neighbour from the Netherworld who has now left excrement and dirty [...]