Would you return to the UK?

Ooh - there’s a quote in here from me! It’s an interesting question; if you could sell up and return, would you even want to return to the UK after the Brexit vote?

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Well Nadia have-your-cake-and-eat-it Cann should be slung on a boat back to Blighty pronto. Wanting to limit immigration to her native country and then going and immigrating to other peoples’ countries herself, pffff what a brass neck.

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Oh and in answer to the actual question, I’ve always been binational and bicultural and lived in both so I wouldn’t say I’d never live in GB again if I had some reason to, but I haven’t got one and don’t fancy being old there. My bit of GB though lovely etc etc is also a bit too far north for me to want to live there permanently. I’d happily spend time in London or Cambridge but wouldn’t want to live there permanently (and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in England for any length of time).

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I didn’t particularly want to return to the U.K. before the Brexit vote but it’s always dangerous to say never…

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I used to live and work in Cambridge when I was 19, it has changed out of all recognition, not surprising I hear you say!
Our daughter lives in Bury St Edmunds and many others do the same as Cambridge is now exceedingly expensive.
East Anglia is the fastest growing region of UK and the road from Lavenham into Bury is now like a conveyor belt.
Not for us.

The thought has crossed my mind but we just simply could not afford to live in Penzance, Cornwall again, a place where we were born and bred. We have achieved our dream it took us ten years to get here, to Brittany, so I think we will just stay put and cope with things as they happen.

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Never, we left the UK in the nineties, sold up completely and moved to France becoming fiscally resident and working there for the next 15 yrs. We then moved to my husband’s country of birth Ireland on the spur of the moment, mainly because our neighbour offered us a price for our farm that we would have been mad to refuse. We didn’t even consider going back to live in the UK although our children live there, the reason being is the class structure and the underlying rascism that exists and has got worse since Brexit.

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@vero completely with you. I know immigrants from the UK living near me now in France, who voted for Brexit. What kind of madness is that - nutters.

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Sometimes I crave for my hectic shopping adventures in London and then I remember that I am
really close enough to go to Bordeaux and can get back home by tea time and feel satisfied
with my day out with a little lunch and a spending spree.
In London I was always running to catch up…rushing along the road to catch a bus or trying
to get home from work before it was cocoa time! where was the day? where was the life?
Go back…not to live …so close to the madness.
People I know well and love…perhaps?..some foreigners have voted to Brexit!!!
Yes I have planned a very busy brake to Brighton and London in april where I will be racing from
restaurant to coffee shop to meet close friends.I will have a great time.
But I will be delighted to come home to S W France to start my working season and be with
my animal friends.0
0

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Yes. I was happier there.

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Is it ok Knitter to ask you what made you happy there?
And what makes you less happy here?

The health service is poor compared to the British NHS.
Most hospital doctors are ill mannered and unhelpful.
I have a handicap, a below knee amputation of my left leg. In the UK I was treated like a normal human being. Here people stare at me and many treat me as if I am subnormal.
In general, women are treated as if they are third class citizens here. I ran my own business in the UK and was respected for my abilities.
I find many things, including attitudes, very backward in France.

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Whereabouts are you? What is your French like? ( I’m asking about that because quite often if one doesn’t speak whatever the local language may be very well, one may be treated as if one were half-witted).

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In my travels I have sadly found that to be the case Vero but…there are many other forms of communication as well as spoken language - often it just takes effort on both sides.

However, I also agree with Di’s comments and feel that, in general, any kind of ‘difference’ (illness, disability, sexuality, religion…) is often overtly treated with suspicion, derision and ridicule in France.

Whilst living in France I have often heard French people barking ‘talk in French, you’re in France!’ which, to me, speaks volumes about their own insecurities. I’m not saying similar situations don’t arise in other countries - but in my experience they are profoundly more prevalent, and hurtful, here.

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Yes, true. Unfortunately effective communication is possible only if both sides have equally positive attitudes and make as much effort, and that is often not the case at all. God knows it is sometimes difficult enough to communicate even when you do share a language with the other person.

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France has given us the peace and tranquility we sought in our lives and I love that. However, I do miss the UK. I miss the variety, vibrancy, choices, opportunities, the multi culturism, the ‘can do’ attitude, the varied cuisine, theatre, art, fashion and most of all the British sense of humour plus of course the fact it is actually open for business and open to new ideas.

As much as I like France, actually surviving in France is not easy. We have a few years yet before we can retire and although we work absolutely flat out in summer running our chambre d’hôtes, in winter bookings naturally diminish,. Trying to then find alternative work or a way to bring in an additional income is almost impossible. I often therefore have to return to the UK to do temp work in winter. It causes lots of stress and makes life here very difficult, especially as my husband is now suffering ill health. I feel that if we were back in the UK there would be more options available to us and I would feel more secure, Also, we would be closer to family

So, would I go back to the UK? Most definitely. Would I miss France? Most definitely but I would embrace all the things I once took for granted when I previously lived in the UK.

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@Elaine Great post - very honest and real.

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Thank you Simon. Much appreciated. If only life were perfect :wink:!

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Dept. 86. I would not claim to speak fluent French but I am adequate for most things. It’s the sight of my metal leg that inspires the assumption that I’m half-witted. It’s much worse in people who stare rudely at my leg but with whom I have no conversation. How interesting that you try to excuse the rudeness of the French with an assumption that I speak inadequate French. I speak enough to assist French who are unable to speak English. In my own country I have known many people who speak little or no English. I have never behaved to them as many of the French behave towards me.

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As a nation, the French have a cultural psyche to conform - banged into them from an early age and reinforced by the rigid education system. Anyone or any behaviour that does not conform or is judged to deviate from accepted ‘norms’ is openly questioned, criticised or laughed at. Just count the number of times you hear : ‘‘ce n’est pas normal!’’

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