10 Things in France that are Weird for a British Expat

I’ve been here too long, I don’t find any of this weird!

In the interests of accuracy, it’s worth noting that electric sockets are now allowed in UK bathrooms provided they are at least three metres from the dreaded “zone 1”, which basically means the bath or shower. Perhaps the Brits are finally catching up, at least for those with a massive bathroom.

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I found it odd that the light switches are upside down. In England you flip them down to turn them on. In France you flip them down to turn them off, and flip them up for on. Sort of odd at first, but back in UK the switches seem odder still. :thinking::confused::dizzy_face:

Depends, I have multiple switches in various rooms so which way they end up is a bit random. But you are right about the ones on the tableau électrique :blush:

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Good to know, I considered the possibility that it might be just our house, but I discovered the same thing applied at an expensive hotel in Deauville, albeit a rather old-fashioned one. And in the house next door to ours.

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They all seem to be the right way round here (at home and in other local houses) - must have been fitted by an afternoon electrician :beer::wine_glass::wine_glass::wine_glass::wine_glass:

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Are they va-et-vient? Because if so they will end up the wrong way around at some stage.

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Spot on V’ L’ we’ve the same, fitted by a very pro’ leccy, who the Consuel, have so much confidence in, they didn’t even visit to check his work :+1:

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True enough, Véronique, have va-et-vient on the stairs and palier and they are unisex/gender neutral/bisexual or whatever :upside_down_face:

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Could it be that if the circuit fails, the interupyeur will naturally fall to an off position (down)?
In our new build, the (English) electrician installed all the light switches in an English fashion (down on up off) which was inspected by the Consuel and passed without comment. The switches are LeGrand and wouldn’t default anyway to falling to an off position (down) so I guess she wasn’t phased by it. The interupyeurs were a different matter though and I think she would have had a hissy fit if they had been the wong way round!

I don’t think that gravity has anything to do with the way switches or interrupteurs/mcb’s work - if a neutron star happened to fly by, all the lights would go out :joy::joy:

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Doesn’t that happen quite frequently in rural France anyway? :rofl:

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I’ve often thought the light switch thing harks back to the days of the old knife switches that often crop up in Frankenstein films. With these, gravity could pose a danger.https://goo.gl/images/xJLMjH

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Things are changing here in the South. Our local village cinema now shows most major movies in VO - and you can purchase tickets, choosing your seats (or a 2-seater sofa if you want to snuggle…) at the machine in the entrance hall, or safely at home via their website. Perfect! Just add the senior discount and Orange Tuesday and it costs very little as well. Happiness …

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Apparently me too? Lol

I meant to say lived here too long also lol

Depends which side the wires are put in, they can go either way up.

I’ve noticed that 2 is generally thumb and first finger. This will never offend !

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Nice to know, but is going to take a lot of practice to suppress the Anglo-Saxon version…

I cannot wait till everyone has to call themselves immigrants

the term ex pat to me makes me cringe.

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