Le Roi de Prusse?

Browsing one of the many websites offering advice about moving to, living in or running a business in France (mostly linked to estate agents) I came across a poster who said that “running a B&B in France was like “travailler pour le roi de Prusse” “. Literally it means “to work for the king of Prussia” but has come to mean “to work for nothing”.

The phrase originates from a time when France sided with Berlin but did not feel it was properly compensated for its efforts. Whilst not an encouraging metaphor for our future plans it struck me as a memorable phrase and as good as anything I could think of as a title for this blog.