OK Jura... bearing in mind I have only just recently given up smoking... you didn’t really expect a chirpy little reply did you?
Exactly Raindog...so why do so many Brits choose the Dordogne, apart from the fact that the area is beautiful?. They choose it because the schools there accept their non-fluent/poor French speaking kids and also because they will find themselves in a largely British settled community where they can get by with the ubiqutous 'bonjour', 'ca va' and 'au revoir' in the shops. This makes them feel 'french'. Everyone knows one does not need to learn to speak French at all to live in such a region. But I suppose it keeps the local French, what are left of them, happy.
Do you really think you know people that well.... are you really that arrogant Jura? How dare you? You have no idea what my level of French is, or how well I communicate... I did manage to discuss the political situation in France, and in particular compare employment legislation in both UK and France, last weekend over a coffee with my neighbour (I'm helping him create a website and translating it into English for him).. not sure if that counts as ubiquitous?
The only people who I have 'rubbed up the wrong way' on this forum tend to be those who have come here and settled in those Brit enclaves. They have found their little 'niche' in France and wont/cannot accept that life and conditions for others differ around this country. Just shows how integrated they really are. They also try to be more French than the French, and take it as a personal insult when one criticises this country that has given them a cheap refuge from the UK that they not only helped to create, but were also desperate to escape.
You have no idea why we chose our house... just as I have no idea why you chose to bring a 16 year old non-french speaking child to France... One thing is for sure... we're the first brits in our village and our son is the first non-french child to attend the village school... and the french seem to have welcomed us with open arms... maybe it’s to do with attitude?
Oh and yes… we still have a home in the UK, very much loved the area we lived and had lots of friends their too. We never ran from the UK, we just loved France… you really shouldn’t base your arguments on stereotypical statements Jura… they can really let you down!
These people do not want to hear that France has not been kind to you; they pick up their croissants in the morning along with their Daily Mail/Times paper. France, along with it's cheap property prices, has been kind to them and that is all they know about. It would be great if places like Dordogne-shire existed all over France but it does not. Thank god. Four years ago we moved to a region where, until a year or so ago, no British lived. Thank god again. But what did we find?...no schools anywhere with english speaking kids...fine... but an Inspection Academique who were not yet ready to accommodate such if they were over 12 years of age. Blatant discrimination. Unknown of until you move in here.
I'm not a breakfast person... sorry! I also do not read the Mail or the Times... not that they'd sell it in our village! We've travelled all over France for more than 20 years and sorry Jura... regardless of area we found pleasant folk! Maybe you should have done a bit more homework before you moved? or would that have been too obvious? perhaps the person you should be most angry with Jura is yourself. Perhaps maybe if you stopped shouting at people and being rude to people you too will find that there are actually quite a lot of very friendly folk out there... regardless of race!
I know that some of you out there would find a totally non-British/foreign settled area in France to be the answer to your dreams. So did we at the time. Deal with the people we have come up against in the past four years and then tell me that the French are a tolerant bunch in general. They are not. And what I found is this...fellow expats here are even less so.
maybe if you removed that enormous chip from your shoulder you might find that not everyone is bad! Personally I think that we live a modern Europe and we should be free to move around as we do… but in choosing to do this, we should be prepared to change and adjust to our new surroundings…. And maybe be a little more tolerant!
Di, I have something called 'hindsight' now. I'd be interested to know what your plans are. You daughter has far more sense than any of us here.
See... still not exactly friendly is it?