That is what we did and they did not visit his home or do anything else as we demanded but all the info was kept on their files as we were told it was a very serious thing to have personal data on other people without their permission and would also have involved the third party from whom he got said info from in the first place and who we also know.
The British can be very strange too! Government leaders, whose parents/grand-parents immigrated from other countries, now targetting immigrants escaping wars, famines etc., on a scale never seen. Very strange indeed!
5 Likes
Also, I can guarantee there are plenty of French women living in rural France who don’t want to have to put up with this kind of behaviour!
1 Like
Hoist the gang plank, we’re aboard!
1 Like
So sorry to hear this sorry tale and I really feel for you. When we came to live here in rural 17 8 years ago my wife feared she would be lonely and we wouldn’t know anybody but our neighbours are sent from heaven and have enriched our lives more than I can say. Marcel (aka Coco) sadly passed away a few months ago from cancer and the hole his passing leaves is enormous - every day he could be seen toiling from dawn to dusk in his potager and we didn’t bother growing vegetables as he happily gave us kilo after kilo of the tastiest produce - “Le Roy des Tomates” as my wife named him.
After the funeral his family sent a short note in his name to those who loved him - I am welling up now even thinking of it - and I thought I would share it as I find it so moving, A long-since retired gendarme, the photo is of his early years in the CRS, where he looks for all the world like the star of an American road movie.
We mostly keep ourselves to ourselves, but nearly everyone in the area knows us, or of us, and all give a cheery wave whenever we are out walking and they drive past - life as it should be and I treasure every moment!
7 Likes
We lost a good friend too, he was 92 and had to live in an assisted living home.
He asked us to lunch two weeks before he died.
3 Likes
Reading through the comments, there are some really constructive tips. I hope you have sorted this out by now as it’s quite a scary situation.
Many of the comments refer to French behaviour. We have lived in a rural village and then moved to a hamlet for family reasons. The former was almost 100% french and wonderful, no disrespect to other nationalities. The latter house, well, the neighbour, English, on a long visitor visa, is a nightmare. Not just to us, but our French neighbours too. There isn’t enough room to say what he does. It’s distressing and indeed criminal in some instances. Our local mayor doesn’t want to know. We cannot make a mains courant, as much as we want to, because it means declaring it to a buyer of our house. Yes we are going to sell because of this. I live in fear, and the sooner I’m away the better. I wish there was some way I could block his next visa application, but sadly I suspect not. An evil individual.
2 Likes
Yes that is the drawback of the main courant approach, it shouldn’t be that way but having made a complaint can be seen as negative for you. And also for applying for nationality a record of complaints can be seen as very negative.
Need a better, perhaps anonymous approach that actually stimulates some action.
It does seem unfair, in a sense, but I can understand that a buyer should be informed of any neighbour disputes.
Regarding the original post by @Bonzocat, I wonder how it all worked out? It would be good if posters (generally) came back and ‘finished the story’. We can all learn from the experiences of others . . . .
1 Like
Nasty things happen which soon recede to the back of the mind, in my experience. I feel that I’m not prepared to waste my time on a rubbish neighbour. Better things to do with my mental energy.
He didn’t harm me physically – he grabbed me, swung me around and started pushing me forcefully out of his garden – so unnecessary as I wasn’t resisting. But he let go of me as soon as I mentioned my age.
I haven’t heard any mention of him in the neighbourhood as to his temper, or whether he is ‘known’ locally. I was unaware of his existence for years, so hope this was an isolated incident while he was fuming about something else.
2 Likes